Franz Heinzer

Franz Heinzer
Personal information
Born (1962-04-11) April 11, 1962 (age 62)
Rickenbach, Schwyz, Switzerland
OccupationAlpine skier
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, Super G,
Combined
World Cup debut1981 – (age 18)
RetiredMarch 1994 – (age 31)
Olympics
Teams3 – (1988–94)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams6 – (1982–93)
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons14 – (1981–94)
Wins17 – (15 DH, 2 K)
Podiums45
Overall titles0
Discipline titles4 – (3 DH, 1 SG)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Switzerland
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Downhill 15 10 9
Super-G 0 4 2
Combined 2 2 1
Total 17 16 12
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Saalbach Downhill

Franz Heinzer (born 11 April 1962 in Rickenbach, Schwyz, Switzerland) is a former alpine ski racer, who specialized in downhill. He was World Cup champion in downhill three consecutive seasons (1991, 1992, 1993), second only to Franz Klammer (4 consecutive). He won a total of 15 World Cup downhill races, fourth behind Klammer (25), Peter Müller (19) and Stephan Eberharter (18). Together with Franz Klammer, Toni Sailer, Jean Claude Killy, Karl Schranz and Stephan Eberharter, he is considered among the best downhill racers of all time. He also won the season title in Super-G in 1991.

Career

Heinzer won at the world's most famous downhill venues: Kitzbühel (3x), Wengen, Val Gardena (2x), Garmisch, Val-d'Isère, Aspen, Lake Louise, and St. Anton. His victory in the downhill event at the 1991 World Championships came after three fourth places at previous championships (Schladming (1982), Bormio (1985) and Crans-Montana (1987). He didn't compete in the downhill at Vail in 1989. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, his right binding released at the starting gate, putting him out of the downhill race.[1]

A month later, Heinzer retired from international competition at age 31 with 17 World Cup victories and 45 podiums. He now runs his own sports products company in Altdorf, and since the winter of 2004, also works as the assistant coach of Swiss national downhill team.[2]

The Franz Heinzer Piste in the Swiss ski resort of Stoos, a FIS-approved downhill run on the Klingenstock, is named in his honour.[3]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom		 Super G Downhill Combined
1981 18 36 — — not
run 		10 —
1982 19 26 — — 10 —
1983 20 26 — 19 not
awarded 		19 9
1984 21 6 — 18 8 4
1985 22 5 — 36 6 2
1986 23 13 — — 10 9 8
1987 24 12 — — 25 3 —
1988 25 8 — — 16 3 13
1989 26 31 — — 20 14 —
1990 27 17 — — 21 7 21
1991 28 4 — — 1 1 —
1992 29 5 — — 7 1 —
1993 30 3 — — 3 1 —
1994 31 36 — — 29 16 —

Season titles

4 season titles: 3 downhill, 1 super G

Season Discipline
1991 Downhill
Super-G
1992 Downhill
1993 Downhill

Individual races

17 race victories: 15 downhill, 2 combined

Season Date Location Race
1983 19 December 1982 Val Gardena, Italy Combined
1984 9 December 1983 Val-d'Isère, France Downhill
10 December 1983 Combined
1986 22 February 1986 Åre, Sweden Downhill
1987 4 January 1987 Laax, Switzerland Downhill
1988 11 March 1988 Beaver Creek, USA Downhill
1991 14 December 1990 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill
12 January 1991 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill
8 March 1991 Aspen, USA Downhill
16 March 1991 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill
1992 14 December 1991 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill
17 January 1992 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill
18 January 1992 Downhill
25 January 1992 Wengen, Switzerland Downhill
1993 10 January 1993 Garmisch, Germany Downhill
16 January 1993 St. Anton, Austria Downhill
23 January 1993 Veysonnaz, Switzerland Downhill

References

  1. ^ "YouTube video: Franz Heinzer, 1994 Olympic downhill". Eurosport. 13 February 1994. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Franz Heinzer". Swiss Ski team. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Franz Heinzer Piste". myswitzerland.com. Switzerland Tourism. Retrieved 4 January 2018.