Christl Ditfurth

Christl Ditfurth
Full name	Christina von Ditfurth
nation	Austria
birthday	April 15, 1943
place of birth	Lebring,  then: German Empire
Career
discipline	Slalom , giant slalom , downhill , combination
society	WSV St. Johann im Pongau
National squad	since 1961
status	resigned
End of career	1967

Christina "Christl" von Ditfurth (born April 15, 1943 in Lebring , Styria ) is a former Austrian ski racer . She was active in the 1960s and scored several victories in international races.

Christina von Ditfurth grew up in Tenneck in the province of Salzburg , when she moved to Vienna with her family at the age of 16 . After some successes in the youth field, but also injuries (fracture of the left lower leg and right ankle in April 1958), she achieved her first successes in international FIS races in 1961 : She won the downhill run of the Coppa Femina in Abetone and achieved sixth place in the Slalom still third in the combination. She also finished seventh in the downhill run of the well-known Arlberg-Kandahar race . Ditfurth was included in the national squad of the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV), but was mainly used in less occupied A and B class races. Her only podium place in the winter of 1961/62 she achieved in the giant slalom in Lienz , where she came second. A ruptured Achilles tendon ended the season. 1963/64 another double broken leg. Only in winter 1964/65 did she succeed in the next victories: Combined victory Coppa IV Gran Premio de Espana in Nuria, Spain / winner of the Grand Prix of Sicily (slalom, giant slalom and combination) / winner of the Argentine championships (slalom, giant slalom) in Bariloche, Argentina. In 1966/67 she was Salzburg national champion in slalom and combination, won the bronze medal in slalom at the Universiade in Sestriere / Italy, was winner of the Tyrolean spring ski criterion, giant slalom, winner of the Du Maurier Cup slalom, second in combination, Whistler Mountain, Canada / Golden Rose winner, slalom, at Timberline Lodge, Portland, Oregon, USA. She celebrated her last victory as a member of the national team in 1967 in the Tux slalom . Before she ended her career, she competed in the Universiade of Innsbruck in 1968: silver medal in downhill, bronze medal in slalom and combination / winner of the Swiss university championships in slalom, giant slalom and combination, and was the coach of the women's Olympic team in 1968 in Grenoble, France.

Ditfurth completed her training as a state-certified ski instructor and moved to Australia in 1968, where she worked as a ski instructor and took part in several professional races. Ditfurth, who speaks English, French, Spanish and Japanese in addition to German, worked for many years as Marketing Director of the ski binding manufacturer Tyrolia for Japan and Australia. She also worked as a sports journalist, including for the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun .

literature

• Austrian Ski Association (Ed.): Austrian Ski Stars from A – Z. Ablinger & Garber, Hall in Tirol 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502285-7-1 , p. 48.