Vreni Schneider

Vreni Schneider
	Alpine skier
Disciplines	Alpine skiing
Club	SC Elm
Born	26 November 1964 (age 55); Elm, Switzerland
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Women's alpine skiing
Representing Switzerland
Olympic Games
Alpine World Ski Championships

Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin) and was voted "Swiss Sportswoman of the Century".

Early life

Schneider was born in Elm, the daughter of a shoemaker. Her mother died of cancer when Schneider was a teenager: as a result she put her ski career on hold and dropped out of school to look after the family home.[1]

Racing career

Schneider made her World Cup debut at the age of 20.[1] Schneider won the overall alpine skiing World Cup three times and eleven discipline World Cups in Slalom and Giant Slalom, along with 55 World Cup races (number four all-time among women to Moser-Pröll, Vonn and Shiffrin). She also won five medals at the Winter Olympics including 3 golds (Slalom and Giant Slalom at Calgary in 1988 and Slalom at Lillehammer in 1994), and six medals at the World Championships including 3 more golds (Giant Slalom at Crans-Montana in 1987 and Vail in 1989; Slalom at Saalbach in 1991).[2]

During the 1988–89 season she won 14 World Cup races, a record for single season wins that stood until Shiffrin beat that record in the 2018–19 season.

In April 1995, after eleven successful seasons, she announced her retirement. Today she runs a ski and snowboard school in her home village of Elm as well as a sport equipment shop in Glarus.

Vreni Schneider is praised in the Half Man Half Biscuit song 'Uffington Wassail' thus: "Vreni Schneider – you’re my downhill lady! Vreni Schneider – you’re the queen of the slopes!" The song is on the album Trouble Over Bridgwater from the year 2000.

World Cup competition victories

Seasons

Season	Discipline
1986	Giant Slalom
1987	Giant Slalom
1989	Overall
1989	Giant Slalom
1989	Slalom
1990	Slalom
1991	Giant Slalom
1992	Slalom
1993	Slalom
1994	Overall
1994	Slalom
1995	Overall
1995	Giant Slalom
1995	Slalom

Individual races

Vreni Schneider won a total of 55 World Cup races: 20 Giant Slalom, 34 Slalom and one Combined.

Slalom

Date	Location
17 December 1986	Courmayeur
14 February 1987	Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
24 January 1988	Bad Gastein
16 December 1988	Altenmarkt im Pongau
20 December 1988	Courmayeur
3 January 1989	Maribor
8 January 1989	Mellau
15 January 1989	Grindelwald
3 March 1989	Furano
10 March 1989	Shigakogen
25 November 1989	Park City
6 January 1990	Piancavallo
9 January 1990	Hinterstoder
21 January 1990	Maribor
18 March 1990	Åre
11 March 1991	Lake Louise
30 November 1991	Lech am Arlberg
18 January 1992	Maribor
29 February 1992	Narvik
6 January 1993	Maribor
17 January 1993	Cortina d'Ampezzo
19 March 1993	Vemdalen
28 March 1993	Åre
28 November 1993	Santa Caterina
19 December 1993	St. Anton am Arlberg
9 January 1994	Altenmarkt im Pongau
23 January 1994	Maribor
5 February 1994	Sierra Nevada
10 March 1994	Mammoth Mountain
20 March 1994	Vail
27 November 1994	Park City
18 December 1994	Sestriere
26 February 1995	Maribor
19 March 1995	Bormio

Giant Slalom

Date	Location
17 December 1984	Santa Caterina
17 March 1985	Waterville Valley
6 January 1986	Maribor
19 January 1986	Oberstaufen
20 March 1986	Waterville Valley
6 December 1986	Waterville Valley
5 January 1987	Saalbach-Hinterglemm
13 February 1987	Megève
22 March 1987	Sarajevo
5 January 1988	Tignes
28 November 1988	Les Menuires
18 December 1988	Val di Zoldo
6 January 1989	Schwarzenberg
7 January 1989	Schwarzenberg
21 January 1989	Tignes
8 March 1989	Shigakogen
11 January 1991	Kranjska Gora
17 March 1991	Vail
8 December 1991	Santa Caterina
5 January 1992	Oberstaufen

Combined

Date	Race
16 December 1988	Altenmarkt im Pongau

References

Johnson, William Oscar (27 January 1988). "Smooth as Clockwork". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Vreni Schneider". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.

External links

Website of Vreni Schneider's ski school (in German)
International Olympic Committee profile
International Olympic Committee story
Vreni Schneider at the International Olympic Committee
Vreni Schneider at the International Ski Federation
Vreni Schneider at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database

Awards
Preceded by Maria Walliser	Swiss Sportswoman of the Year 1988–1989	Succeeded by Anita Protti
Preceded by Anita Protti	Swiss Sportswoman of the Year 1991	Succeeded by Conny Kissling
Preceded by Manuela Maleeva	Swiss Sportswoman of the Year 1994–1995	Succeeded by Barbara Heeb

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[si-1] Johnson, William Oscar (27 January 1988). "Smooth as Clockwork". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

[2] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Vreni Schneider". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.