Maria Höfl-Riesch

Maria Höfl-Riesch
Riesch in 2009
Personal information
Born (1984-11-24) 24 November 1984 (age 40)
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany
OccupationAlpine skier
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, slalom, combined, giant slalom
ClubSC Partenkirchen
World Cup debut16 February 2001  (age 16)
Retired20 March 2014  (age 29)
Websitemaria.com.de
Olympics
Teams2 – (2010, 2014)
Medals4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams5 – (2003, 2007–13)
Medals6 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons13 – (2002–2014)
Wins27
Podiums81
Overall titles1 – (2011)
Discipline titles5 – (1 DH, 1 SG, 2 SL, 1 SC)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Germany
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 9 9 7
Giant slalom 0 2 2
Downhill 11 5 10
Super-G 3 8 5
Combined 4 3 3
Total 27 27 27
International competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 0
World Championships 2 0 4
World Junior Championships 5 2 2
Total 10 3 6
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Combined
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Combined
Silver medal – second place 2014 Sochi Super-G
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Val d'Isère Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2013 Schladming Combined
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Garmisch Super-G
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Garmisch Downhill
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Schladming Downhill
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Schladming Team event
Junior World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Verbier Combined
Gold medal – first place 2002 Tarvisio Super-G
Gold medal – first place 2003 Briançonnais Combined
Gold medal – first place 2004 Maribor Downhill
Gold medal – first place 2004 Maribor Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 2001 Verbier Super-G
Silver medal – second place 2002 Tarvisio Slalom
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Verbier Downhill
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Briançonnais Giant slalom
Riesch in January 2011

Maria Höfl-Riesch (German pronunciation: [maˈʁiːa ˌhøːfl̩ ˈʁiːʃ] ⓘ; née Riesch, born 24 November 1984) is a former German alpine ski racer. She is a three-time Olympic champion, two-time World champion, an overall World Cup champion and five-time World junior 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] Her uncle, Wolfgang Zimmerer was a bobsledder during the 1960s and 1970s and competed for West Germany in the Winter Olympics, winning gold with Peter Utzschneider at the Two-man bobsleigh during the 1972 Winter Olympics.[8] She has been a chief constable in the Bundeszollverwaltung (German Federal Customs Service) during her sports career.

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.[9]

At a height of 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 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:[10]

Race victories

  • 27 wins – (11 DH, 3 SG, 9 SL, 4 SC) + 1 NTE
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 2004 Finland 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 2008 Canada 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 2009 Italy 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 2010 Canada 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

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Cancellation gives Riesch overall crown". Ski Racing.com. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. ^ Harry, Nutt (14 February 2009). "Kratzer am Kinn". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Alpine Ski". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Maze edges Schild for her first World Cup slalom win; Riesch takes slim lead in overall". Ski Racing.com. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Maria Hoefl-Riesch has no second thoughts about retirement". NBC Sports. August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Riesch wins gold". Deutsche Welle. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Susanne Riesch beendet ihre Karriere" [Susanne Riesch has ended her career]. WirtschaftsBlatt (in German). 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  8. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Wolfgang Zimmerer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Nun startet sie als Höfl-Riesch". faz.net (in German). 14 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  10. ^ "Maria Joefl-Riesch". FIS. World Cup season standings. Retrieved 8 March 2014.