Born in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg,[1] he began competing in athletics at a young age, when his mother took him to a sports club when he was nine years old.

At that point he began his military service for Austria, but an injury to the head in 1985 left him hospitalised and unable to continue with his training.

The Austrian produced a personal best throw of 18.90 m (62 ft 0 in) to place 14th in the qualifying round on his international debut, while his Swiss partner went on to claim the gold medal.

[9] This made him Austria's first European champion in the shot put and only the third Austrian man to win a gold medal at the indoor competition, after Andreas Berger and Dietmar Millonig.

[10][11] Outdoors, he consistently threw beyond nineteen metres that year, with highlights being fourth place at the Athletissima meet and a tenth-place finish at the 1990 European Athletics Championships.

[6] The 1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships marked a high point for the Egger training group as Bodenmüller was the silver medallist with 20.42 m (66 ft 11+3⁄4 in) behind Günthör.

[13] He did not translate this form at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, barely clearing eighteen metres in the qualifiers and being eliminated as the fourth worst performer.

That year he won his eleventh and final Austrian shot put title in any conditions at the national outdoor championships.