Maria Höfl-Riesch

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.

Maria Höfl-Riesch
Alpine skier
Riesch in January 2009
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, slalom, combined, giant slalom
ClubSC Partenkirchen
Born (1984-11-24) 24 November 1984
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
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
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 VancouverCombined
2010 VancouverSlalom
2014 SochiCombined
2014 SochiSuper-G
World Championships
2009 Val d'IsèreSlalom
2013 SchladmingCombined
2011 GarmischSuper-G
2011 GarmischDownhill
2013 SchladmingDownhill
2013 SchladmingTeam event
Junior World Ski Championships
2001 VerbierCombined
2002 TarvisioSuper-G
2003 BriançonnaisCombined
2004 MariborDownhill
2004 MariborGiant slalom
2001 VerbierSuper-G
2002 TarvisioSlalom
2001 VerbierDownhill
2003 BriançonnaisGiant slalom
Riesch in January 2011

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 1.82 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
2008Super-G
Combined
2009Slalom
2010Slalom
2011Overall
2014Downhill

Season standings
SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200116109––42–—
200217964650––—
20031832404237143
200419391857—
2005204344322627—
20062169–493544—
20072214252218736
2008233825191
20092421151034
201025218925
201126138223
2012273716644
201328296539
2014292514513

Source:[9]

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 Haus im Ennstal, AustriaDownhill
1 Feb 2004Super-G
29 Feb 2004 Levi, FinlandSlalom
20071 Dec 2006 Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
2008
(1 SG, 1 SC)		21 Jan 2008 Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalySuper-G
24 Feb 2008 Whistler, CanadaSuper combined
2009
5 victories
(4 SL, 1 SC)		14 Dec 2008 La Molina, SpainSlalom
29 Dec 2008 Semmering, AustriaSlalom
4 Jan 2009 Zagreb, CroatiaSlalom
11 Jan 2009 Maribor, SloveniaSlalom
20 Feb 2009 Tarvisio, ItalySuper combined
2010
3 victories
(1 SL, 2 DH)		14 Nov 2009 Levi, FinlandSlalom
30 Jan 2010   St. Moritz, SwitzerlandDownhill
10 Mar 2010 Garmisch, GermanyDownhill
2011
7 victories
(3 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC,
1 SG, 1 NTE)		3 Dec 2010 Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
4 Dec 2010Downhill
11 Jan 2011 Flachau, AustriaSlalom
22 Jan 2011 Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalyDownhill
25 Feb 2011 Åre, SwedenSuper combined
27 Feb 2011Super-G
20 Mar 2011   Lenzerheide, SwitzerlandTeam event
2012
3 victories
(1 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC)		29 Jan 2012   St. Moritz, SwitzerlandSuper combined
18 Feb 2012 Sochi, RussiaDownhill
10 Mar 2012 Åre, SwedenSlalom
201310 Nov 2012 Levi, FinlandSlalom
2014
3 victories
(3 DH)		6 Dec 2013 Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
7 Dec 2013Downhill
24 Jan 2014 Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalyDownhill

World Championship results
  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200318DNF1DNF1DNF175
200520injured, did not compete
200722—231097
2009241288104
2011264DNF23311
201328DNF29DNF31

Olympic results
  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200621injured, did not compete
201025110881
2014294DNS12131

References
  1. Ski Racing.com – Cancellation gives Riesch overall crown – 19 March 2011.
  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. 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.
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
Eric Frenzel
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