Maria Höfl-Riesch

Maria Höfl-Riesch
— Alpine skier —

Riesch in January 2009
Disciplines Downhill, super-G, slalom, combined, giant slalom
Club SC Partenkirchen
Born (1984-11-24) 24 November 1984
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
World Cup debut 16 February 2001  (age 16)
Retired 20 March 2014  (age 29)
Website maria.com.de
Olympics
Teams 2 – (2010, 2014)
Medals 4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams 5 – (2003, 2007–13)
Medals 6 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 13 – (2002–2014)
Wins 27
Podiums 81
Overall titles 1 – (2011)
Discipline titles 5 – (1 DH, 1 SG, 2 SL, 1 SC)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Germany
International alpine ski competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 0
World Championships 2 0 4
Total 5 1 4
Olympic Games
2010 Vancouver Combined
2010 Vancouver Slalom
2014 Sochi Combined
2014 Sochi Super-G
World Championships
2009 Val d'Isère Slalom
2013 Schladming Combined
2011 Garmisch Super-G
2011 Garmisch Downhill
2013 Schladming Downhill
2013 Schladming Team event
Junior World Ski Championships
2001 Verbier Combined
2002 Tarvisio Super-G
2003 Briançonnais Combined
2004 Maribor Downhill
2004 Maribor Giant slalom
2001 Verbier Super-G
2002 Tarvisio Slalom
2001 Verbier Downhill
2003 Briançonnais Giant slalom
Riesch in January 2011

Maria Höfl-Riesch (German pronunciation: [maʁiːaː høːfl ʁiːʃ]; née Riesch, born 24 November 1984) is a former German World Cup alpine ski racer. She is a three-time Olympic champion, two-time world champion, and an overall World Cup champion.

Höfl-Riesch made her World Cup debut in February 2001 and won gold medals in slalom and super combined at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She won the World Cup overall title in 2011.[1] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, she defended her super combined title to win her third Olympic gold medal, and also won a silver medal in the super-G.

Career

Born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,[2] Höfl-Riesch was a prodigious talent as a junior and won seven medals in all of the disciplines at four Junior World Championships, including three gold medals in combined and super-G.[3]

As the racing careers of Martina Ertl-Renz and Hilde Gerg concluded, Höfl-Riesch rose as the leading female racer on the German national team. Injuries cut short her seasons in 2005 and 2006, causing her to miss the 2005 World Championships and the 2006 Winter Olympics.

During the 2009 season, Höfl-Riesch won four slalom events on the World Cup tour and won the gold medal in the slalom at the World Championships. Prior to 2009, her most successful season was in 2004, when she finished third in the overall World Cup standings, with three race victories. She also finished third in the overall standings in 2008. In the 2007 season she won her second downhill race, at Lake Louise, Canada.

Riesch won two gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics, in the super combined and slalom. After finishing second in the overall World Cup standings in 2009 and 2010, Riesch built a big lead early in the 2011 season which was enough to win the overall title, besting three-time defending champion Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. by just three points. At the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Vonn took the overall lead after the downhill, then Riesch reclaimed it after the slalom;[4] the super-G and giant slalom races were cancelled due to poor conditions.[1] She retired after the 2014 season after crashing in the downhill World Cup Final.[5]

Personal

Höfl-Riesch is also a nationally ranked tennis player and a cyclist.[6] Her younger sister, Susanne Riesch, is also a former World Cup ski racer, specializing in the slalom.[7] She is a chief constable in the Bundeszollverwaltung (German Federal Customs Service) and a member of the custom service ski team.

One of her closest friends (and major rival) on the World Cup tour was Lindsey Vonn of the United States.

Höfl-Riesch married her manager Marcus Höfl on 14 April 2011.[8]

At a height of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), she was one of the tallest women on the World Cup circuit.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season Discipline
2008 Super-G
Combined
2009 Slalom
2010 Slalom
2011 Overall
2014 Downhill

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2001 16 109 – – 42 – —
2002 17 96 46 50 – – —
2003 18 32 40 42 37 14 3
2004 19 3 9 18 5 7 —
2005 20 43 44 32 26 27 —
2006 21 69 – 49 35 44 —
2007 22 14 25 22 18 7 36
2008 23 3 8 25 1 9 1
2009 24 2 1 15 10 3 4
2010 25 2 1 8 9 2 5
2011 26 1 3 8 2 2 3
2012 27 3 7 16 6 4 4
2013 28 2 9 6 5 3 9
2014 29 2 5 14 5 1 3

Source:[9]

Race victories

Season Date Location Discipline
2004
3 victories
(1 DH, 1 SG, 1 SL)		30 Jan 2004 Austria Haus im Ennstal, Austria Downhill
1 Feb 2004 Super-G
29 Feb 2004Finland Levi, Finland Slalom
2007 1 Dec 2006 Canada Lake Louise, Canada Downhill
2008
(1 SG, 1 SC)		21 Jan 2008 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Super-G
24 Feb 2008Canada Whistler, Canada Super combined
2009
5 victories
(4 SL, 1 SC)		14 Dec 2008 Spain La Molina, Spain Slalom
29 Dec 2008 Austria Semmering, Austria Slalom
4 Jan 2009 Croatia Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
11 Jan 2009 Slovenia Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
20 Feb 2009Italy Tarvisio, Italy Super combined
2010
3 victories
(1 SL, 2 DH)		14 Nov 2009 Finland Levi, Finland Slalom
30 Jan 2010  Switzerland  St. Moritz, Switzerland Downhill
10 Mar 2010 Germany Garmisch, Germany Downhill
2011
7 victories
(3 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC,
1 SG, 1 NTE)		3 Dec 2010Canada Lake Louise, Canada Downhill
4 Dec 2010 Downhill
11 Jan 2011 Austria Flachau, Austria Slalom
22 Jan 2011 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Downhill
25 Feb 2011 Sweden Åre, Sweden Super combined
27 Feb 2011 Super-G
20 Mar 2011  Switzerland  Lenzerheide, Switzerland Team event
2012
3 victories
(1 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC) 		29 Jan 2012  Switzerland  St. Moritz, Switzerland Super combined
18 Feb 2012 Russia Sochi, Russia Downhill
10 Mar 2012 Sweden Åre, Sweden Slalom
2013 10 Nov 2012 Finland Levi, Finland Slalom
2014
3 victories
(3 DH) 		6 Dec 2013 Canada Lake Louise, Canada Downhill
7 Dec 2013 Downhill
24 Jan 2014 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Downhill

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2003 18 DNF1 DNF1 DNF 17 5
2005 20 injured, did not compete
2007 22 — 23 10 9 7
2009 24 1 28 8 10 4
2011 26 4 DNF2 3 3 11
2013 28 DNF2 9 DNF 3 1

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2006 21 injured, did not compete
2010 25 1 10 8 8 1
2014 29 4 DNS1 2 13 1

References

  1. 1 2 Ski Racing.com – Cancellation gives Riesch overall crown – 19 March 2011.
  2. ↑ Harry, Nutt (14 February 2009). "Kratzer am Kinn". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  3. ↑ http://www.fisalpineworldcup.com/Fis_alpine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=99&competitorid=50980
  4. ↑ Ski Racing.com – Maze edges Schild for her first World Cup slalom win; Riesch takes slim lead in overall – 18 March 2011.
  5. ↑ "Maria Hoefl-Riesch has no second thoughts about retirement". NBC Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  6. ↑ http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=12760&DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=1620104
  7. ↑ "Susanne Riesch beendet ihre Karriere" [Susanne Riesch has ended her career]. WirtschaftsBlatt (in German). 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Nun startet sie als Höfl-Riesch". faz.net (in German). 14 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  9. ↑ "Maria Joefl-Riesch". FIS. World Cup season standings. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maria Riesch.
Awards
Preceded by
Steffi Nerius
Christina Obergföll		 German Sportswoman of the Year
2010
2014 		Succeeded by
Magdalena Neuner
Christina Schwanitz
Olympic Games
Preceded by
André Lange		 Flagbearer for Germany
Sochi 2014 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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