[2] After missing out his Sydney 2000 bid, he moved into the Star class and eventually partnered with Andreas Hanakamp to compete at his fourth Olympics in Athens 2004 and with Christian Nehammer at his fifth in Beijing 2008.

[8] Spitzauer reached the peak of his sailing career in the 1995 season by narrowly overhauling Sweden's Fredrik Lööf for the Finn Gold Cup title in Melbourne.

Taking a year off to reassess other sailing options, Spitzauer decided to move into the Star class and eventually partnered with Andreas Hanakamp in the lead-up to his fourth Olympic trip.

[2][11] Dissatisfied with the Athens 2004 outcome, Spitzauer shelved his retirement plans to pair up with the nine-time legend Hubert Raudaschl for his next Olympiad, but perpetual training and campaigning lost some sailing allure for the latter.

There, the Austrian duo posted a triad of top-six marks throughout the ten-race course, but a disastrous feat on the last leg slipped their chances away from the medal round to the twelfth overall spot with 87 net points.