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).
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| Born | June 24, 1964 Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, Austria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 177 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, combined | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | SC Gries Am Brenner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | 22 December 1982 (age 18) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | March 1998 (age 33) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | guenthermader.at | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 - (1988-98) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 7 - (1985-97) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 6 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 16 - (1983-98) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 44 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 - (2nd in 1995 & 1996) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 2 - (1 GS, 1 K ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editMader 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.[clarification needed]
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
editSeason titles
edit| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Giant slalom |
| 1996 | Combined |
Individual races
edit| Season | Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 21 Feb 1986 | Wengen, Switzerland | Combined |
| 2 Mar 1986 | Geilo, Norway | Slalom | |
| 1988 | 20 Mar 1988 | Åre, Sweden | Combined |
| 1990 | 2 Dec 1989 | Mt. Ste. Anne, Canada | Giant slalom |
| 30 Jan 1990 | Les Menuires, France | Super-G | |
| 1991 | 6 Jan 1991 | Garmisch, Germany | Super-G |
| 1992 | 8 Mar 1992 | Panorama, Canada | Super-G |
| 1993 | 28 Mar 1993 | Whistler, Canada | Super-G |
| 1994 | 27 Nov 1993 | Park City, USA | Giant slalom |
| 12 Dec 1993 | Val-d'Isère, France | Super-G | |
| 1995 | 16 Jan 1995 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Super-G |
| 1996 | 13 Jan 1996 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill |
| 14 Jan 1996 | Combined | ||
| 1997 | 12 Jan 1997 | Chamonix, France | Combined |
References
edit- ^ Ski-db.com - results - Günther Mader - accessed 2011-01-16
External links
edit- Günther Mader at FIS (alpine)
- Günther Mader at Olympedia
- Günther Mader at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Official website (in German)
