Patrick Ortlieb

Patrick Ortlieb
Ortlieb in 2010
Personal information
Born (1967-05-20) 20 May 1967 (age 57)
Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria
OccupationAlpine skier
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, Super-G, Combined
World Cup debut9 December 1988 (age 21)
RetiredJanuary 1999 (age 31)
Olympics
Teams2 – (1992, 1994)
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams4 – (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997)
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons11 – (1989–99)
Wins4 – (3 DH, 1 SG)
Podiums20 – (18 DH, 2 SG)
Overall titles0 – (7th in 1993)
Discipline titles0 – (3rd in DH, 1994–96)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Austria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Albertville Downhill
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Sierra Nevada Downhill

Patrick Ortlieb (born 20 May 1967) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Austria.[1][2] A specialist in the speed events, he was also a world champion in the downhill event.[3]

Born in Bregenz in Vorarlberg, Ortlieb started skiing early at the age of three. He won the downhill event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in France, gathered twenty World Cup podiums (sixty top tens), and was World Champion in 1996 in downhill. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, he finished fourth in the downhill at Kvitfjell.[4][5][6][7] A month earlier, he won the famed downhill on the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria.[8]

Five years later in January 1999, Ortlieb's racing career ended at age 31 after a serious crash during a practice run on the same slope at Kitzbühel. He suffered a compound fracture of the right femur and a badly dislocated and slightly fractured right hip after losing control and crashing into the safety nets at the Hausbergkante (mountain house corner).[9] Later in the year, he was elected to the National Council of Austria for the Freedom Party of Austria, where he stayed for three years.

He currently runs a four-star hotel, named Hotel Montana, in Lech am Arlberg in Vorarlberg.

He is the father of fellow alpine skier Nina Ortlieb.[10]

World Cup results

Race podiums

  • 4 wins – (3 DH, 1 SG)
  • 20 podiums – (18 DH, 2 SG)
Season Date Location Discipline Place
1989 10 Dec 1988 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill 2nd
1991 16 Mar 1991 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 3rd
1992 11 Jan 1992 Garmisch, Germany Downhill 2nd
18 Jan 1992 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill 3rd
14 Mar 1992 Aspen, USA Downhill 3rd
1993 11 Dec 1992 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill 3rd
23 Jan 1993 Veysonnaz, Switzerland Downhill 2nd
28 Feb 1993 Whistler, Canada Super-G 3rd
1994 18 Dec 1993 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill 1st
15 Jan 1994 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill 1st
15 Mar 1994 Vail, USA Downhill 3rd
1995 11 Dec 1994 Tignes, France Super-G 1st
17 Dec 1994 Val d'Isère, France Downhill 2nd
13 Jan 1995 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill 2nd
25 Feb 1995 Whistler, Canada Downhill 3rd
11 Mar 1995 Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 3rd
1996 1 Dec 1995 Vail, USA Downhill 3rd
16 Dec 1995 Val Gardena, Italy Downhill 1st
20 Jan 1996 Veysonnaz, Switzerland Downhill 2nd
1997 15 Dec 1996 Val d'Isère, France Downhill 3rd

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom		 Super-G Downhill Combined
1989 21 30  –  –  – 12  —
1990 22 43  –  –  – 17 14
1991 23 23  –  – 26 6  —
1992 24 10  –  – 18 4 18
1993 25 7  –  – 7 7 6
1994 26 12  –  – 21 3  —
1995 27 11  –  – 9 3  —
1996 28 20  –  – 27 3  —
1997 29 33  –  – 16 14  —
1998 30 62  –  – 32 27  —
1999 31 82  –  –  – 35  —

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 		 Super-G Downhill Combined
1991 23 — — — 7 —
1993 25 — — cancelled 8 —
1996 28 — — — 1 —
1997 29 — — — 8 —
  • The Super-G in 1993 was cancelled after multiple weather delays.

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 		 Super-G Downhill Combined
1992 24 — — 18 1 —
1994 26 — — — 4 —

References

  1. ^ "It's all downhill for Austria's alpine gold medalist". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 10 February 1992. p. 1D.
  2. ^ Johnson, William Oscar (17 February 1992). "La Face job". Sports Illustrated. p. 36.
  3. ^ New York Times – Skiing: Austrian captures downhill in a glide – 18 February 1996
  4. ^ Johnson, William Oscar (21 February 1994). "The Son finally rises". Sports Illustrated. (cover story). p. 20.
  5. ^ Powers, Tom (14 February 1994). "This Moe's no stooge on the slopes". Lewiston (ME) Sun-Journal. Knight-Ridder. p. 23.
  6. ^ Philips, Angus (14 February 1994). "Unheralded Tommy Moe races to first U.S. medal". Washington Post. p. A1.
  7. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Patrick Ortlieb". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  8. ^ "World Cup: Men's Downhill". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). 16 January 1994. p. 10E.
  9. ^ The Independent – Skiing: Ortlieb suffers horrific accident – 22 January 1999
  10. ^ "Ortlieb wins 1st World Cup, Brignone extends overall lead". Yahoo! Sports. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
Awards
Preceded by Austrian Sportsman of the year
1992 		Succeeded by