Günther Mader

Günther Mader (born 24 June 1964) is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from Austria. Born in Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, he is one of only five men to have won World Cup races in all five alpine disciplines (downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined).

Günther Mader
Born (1964-06-24) June 24, 1964
Matrei am Brenner,
Tyrol, Austria
OccupationAlpine skier
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, combined
ClubSC Gries Am Brenner
World Cup debut22 December 1982
(age 18)
RetiredMarch 1998 (age 33)
Websiteguenthermader.at
Olympics
Teams4 - (1988-98)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams7 - (1985-97)
Medals6 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons16 - (1983-98)
Wins14
Podiums44
Overall titles0 - (2nd in 1995 & 1996)
Discipline titles2 - (1 GS, 1 K )
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Austria
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 1 0 4
Giant slalom 2 3 3
Downhill 1 2 3
Super-G 6 4 2
Combined 4 2 4
Total 14 11 16
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place1992 AlbertvilleDownhill
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1987 Crans-Montana Slalom
Bronze medal – third place 1987 Crans-Montana Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1989 VailCombined
Bronze medal – third place 1991 SaalbachCombined
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Sierra Nevada Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Sestriere Super-G

Career

Mader made his World Cup debut at age 18 and competed for 16 seasons, including four Winter Olympics and seven world championships. He was the bronze medalist in the downhill at the 1992 Olympics and won a total of six medals in the world championships. He won his first championship medal, the silver medal in the slalom Race at Crans Montana in 1987, after only placing eighth after the first leg of the competition. Mader won two World Cup season titles, giant slalom in 1990 and combined in 1996, and placed second in the overall World Cup standings in 1995 and 1996, and third in 1990. Without his 14 wins, he did achieve another 27 places in World Cup races.

His only World Cup victory in downhill was the prestigious Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria, in 1996 at age 31. Mader retired from competition after the 1998 season with 14 World Cup victories, 44 podiums, and 146 top ten finishes.[1]

Only 13 days after his retirement in March 1998, he suffered a stroke: as a result the right side of his body was paralysed and he lost 85 percent of his vocabulary. However he recovered to the greatest possible extent. After convalescence, he wrote a book titled ÜberLeben which covered his career, the stroke and his work as director of racing at ski manufacturer Salomon in Austria, a position he took up during his recovery from his stroke. ÜberLeben has a double meaning in German, translatable as "about life" but also as "survival".

World Cup victories

Season titles
SeasonDiscipline
1990Giant slalom
1996Combined

Individual races
Season Date Location Race
198621 Feb 1986Wengen, SwitzerlandCombined
2 Mar 1986Geilo, NorwaySlalom
198820 Mar 1988Åre, SwedenCombined
19902 Dec 1989Mt. Ste. Anne, CanadaGiant slalom
30 Jan 1990Les Menuires, FranceSuper-G
19916 Jan 1991Garmisch, GermanySuper-G
19928 Mar 1992Panorama, CanadaSuper-G
199328 Mar 1993Whistler, CanadaSuper-G
199427 Nov 1993Park City, USAGiant slalom
12 Dec 1993Val-d'Isère, FranceSuper-G
199516 Jan 1995Kitzbühel, AustriaSuper-G
199613 Jan 1996Kitzbühel, AustriaDownhill
14 Jan 1996Combined
199712 Jan 1997Chamonix, FranceCombined

References
  1. Ski-db.com - results - Günther Mader - accessed 2011-01-16
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