Day eight of the Youth Olympic Torch Relay saw the Youth Olympic Flame pass the town of Gleisdorf on its final leg in Styria before heading into Austria’s easternmost province, Burgenland. The first Torchbearer of the day was Stefan Payerl, a member of the local football team, who set off at 11:30 before handing the Flame to several of his teammates, who in turn passed it on to a series of young athletes – including a number of budding pentathletes – as it made its way through a town which has become famous for its efforts to promote green energy and environmental sustainability.

The countless solar panels adorning shops, houses and factories in Gleisdorf are used to power everything from street lights to parking meters, while an angular ‘solar tree’ on the main square stretches its metal branches and huge solar-panel ‘leaves’ towards the sky to soak up the sun’s rays. A perfect example of how to combine state-of-the-art technology, art and environmental protection!

The Youth Olympic Torch Relay then headed east towards Burgenland, which shares a border with Slovenia, Hungary and Slovakia, and stopped in the town of Oberpullendorf before continuing to Eisenstadt for the End of Day Celebration. Incredibly, the mayor of Oberpullendorf had personally telephoned with almost all of the young Torchbearers to guarantee that, despite not being represented by any athletes at the Innsbruck 2012 Games, Austria’s easternmost province would show the world its sporting prowess by getting some of the best local young sportsmen and women to carry the Youth Olympic Flame as it passed through the town. One of Burgenland’s most famous faces, Austrian sports minister Norbert Darabos, was also present in Oberpullendorf – the closest town to the village from which he commutes to Vienna every day – to cheer on the runners carrying the Torch on its Youth Olympic odyssee through Austria.

With large, red winter run slowly setting on the horizon, the Youth Olympic Flame reached Eisenstadt, the capital of Burgenland, where mayor Thomas Steiner was on hand to welcome the final Torchbearers of the day to the End of Day Celebration in Burgenland’s capital. When asked what Burgenland and Tyrol have in common, Steiner smiled and joked, “We share the same ski areas.”

Despite the lack of mountains in Burgenland, Eisenstadt certainly isn’t short of up-and-coming winter athletes, many of took the chance to carry the Youth Olympic Flame 150m of its journey to the Opening Ceremony in Bergisel Stadium on 13 January. The honour of carrying the Flame into the centre of the city and onto the End of Day Celebration fell to Leo Hillinger, one of Austria’s finest winemakers, and athlete Ursula Bredlinger, who has won the Austrian championships in the marathon and half-marathon distances on several occasions and was voted Eisenstadt’s sportswoman of the year in 2011.