Donna Weinbrecht

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Donna Weinbrecht Freestyle skiing
nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday 23rd April 1965 (age 55)
place of birth Hoboken , USA
size 162 cm
Weight 55 kg
job Skier
Career
discipline Moguls, dual moguls
status resigned
End of career January 2002
Medal table
Olympic games 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
World championships 1 × gold 2 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold Albertville 1992 Moguls
FIS Freestyle Skiing World Championships
silver Oberjoch 1989 Moguls
gold Lake Placid 1991 Moguls
silver Iizuna Kōgen 1997 Moguls
Placements in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup
 Debut in the World Cup January 9, 1988
 World Cup victories 46
 Overall World Cup 2. (1989/90, 1995/96)
 Mughal World Cup 1. (1989/90, 1990/91,
1991/92, 1993/94, 1995/96)
 Dual Moguls World Cup 2. (1995/96)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Moguls 45 10 12
 Dual moguls 1 2 0
 

Donna L. Weinbrecht (born April 23, 1965 in Hoboken , New Jersey ) is a former American freestyle skier . She was on the moguls specialized disciplines, contained moguls and dual moguls. In the Mogul discipline she became world champion in 1991 and first Olympic champion in 1992. In addition, she won the Moguls discipline rankings in the World Cup five times and 46 individual competitions. This makes her the most successful athlete of all time on the moguls, alongside Hannah Kearney .

biography

Childhood and youth

Donna Weinbrecht comes from West Milford in the north of the US east coast state of New Jersey and grew up with two siblings in a Lutheran household. She started skiing at the age of seven in the Hidden Valley in Vernon Township , but initially practiced the sport as a hobby besides windsurfing and skateboarding . In her early teens she began to ski race to contest and could win in 1981 together with her father a nationwide family competition. During her high school years, she first practiced the moguls and competed as a senior on the Eastern Freestyle Circuit of the US Ski Association.

Despite her obvious talent for skiing, Weinbrecht initially aspired to a career as a figure skater , but had to give up that dream when the training costs became prohibitive for her parents. After graduating from high school, she began training as a fashion designer , but dropped out in 1984 because her design school had to close.

Athletic career

She then moved to Killington , Vermont , where her father built a vacation home in 1980. There she worked as a waitress in a restaurant in the winter of 1985/86 and spent most of her free time on the famous Outer Limits mogul slope . A friend persuaded her to take part in local competitions and so she managed to qualify for the national championships, which she finished in 13th place. After intensive training, she just missed a medal in fourth place the following year and was accepted into the US ski team.

On January 9, 1988, Weinbrecht made her World Cup debut at the comparatively high freestyle age of 22 and immediately took sixth place at Mont Gabriel, Canada. In the course of the season, she made her first two podium places and finished the Moguls discipline in tenth place. At the end of winter, she won her first of a total of seven titles in the US championships. In the 1988/89 season she celebrated her first World Cup victories and only had to admit defeat to the French Raphaëlle Monod in the discipline classification and at the World Championships in Oberjoch . In the coming World Cup winter, Weinbrecht rose to become the serial winner and won eight out of nine competitions and thus the overall ranking on the moguls for the first time. The American continued her dominance continued in the next two years, was both the 1991 World Championships in Lake Placid and in the Olympic Games in Albertville their favorite role and meet each secured the gold medal. After she had finished the qualification in the French Alps in second place behind her permanent rival Monod, she prevailed in the Olympic final with a daffy twister spread over the second kicker and became the first female Olympic champion in this discipline.

In the fall of 1992 she suffered a torn cruciate ligament and meniscus as well as a bruise on the head of the tibia during a training fall and was therefore out of the season for the entire 1992/93 season. On her comeback, she won the first six competitions, but disappointed at the season highlight, the Olympic Games in Lillehammer , with seventh place. In the second season after her injury break, she celebrated three World Cup victories, but could not quite maintain the level and lost the discipline classification to Monod. Even at the World Championships in La Clusaz , she was fifth without a medal. In 1995/96 she was able to build on her earlier heyday and secured the Moguls classification for the fifth and last time with eight wins of the season. After winning another silver medal at the World Cup in Iizuna Kōgen, she succeeded in Zauchensee in March 1997, a few weeks before her 32nd birthday, her last World Cup victory . For her third Olympic Games in Nagano , she only barely qualified due to a previously sustained cartilage injury . After she slipped in the final and finished fourth, she retired from the World Cup for two years.

With a view to the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City , the now 35-year-old Weinbrecht made a comeback in the winter of 2000/01. After she failed to qualify for the Games, she ended her career in January 2002. The record she set of 46 World Cup victories was not evened out by Hannah Kearney until 2015 , but was not surpassed after that. Her 45 victories in the singles discipline mean her sole record to date.

Further career

After finishing her sports career, Weinbrecht largely withdrew into private life. Nevertheless, she remained connected to skiing and continued to work with the US ski team and the fundraising organization Powdergirls . She also acted as a spokeswoman for her former equipment suppliers Rossignol and Oakley as well as other well-known companies. She worked as a sports commentator for CBS Sports and Fox .

Style and reception

From 1985 onwards, Donna Weinbrecht perfected her technique on the Outer Limits mogul slope in Killington.

Unlike most professional skiers, Donna Weinbrecht never had a real coach in her childhood and youth. After switching from alpine ski races to moguls, she taught herself the complete swing and jump technique and only had to learn to switch to shorter skis (190 cm) when she entered professional sport. The autodidact then oriented herself stylistically towards her male colleagues:

“I don't think there should be that big a gap between us. If they can do it I think I should be able to do it too. "

“I don't think the distance between us should be too great. If they can, I should be able to do it too. "

- Donna Weinbrecht (1990)

The then US head coach Wayne Hilterbrand described this self-confidence as the extra class that distinguishes them from their competition. After her first years of dominance, she was dubbed "Moguls Queen", "Queen of the Bumps" or "Queen of the Hill" by US trade magazines. Her optical trademark was her long blond hair, which - without the need to wear a helmet - always came into its own during competitions. In contrast to her long-time teammate Jonny Moseley , she was characterized by a calm personality and avoided the limelight. After father Jim was incapacitated by a serious skiing accident in the first year of her professional career, Donna Weinbrecht was managed by mother Caroline. Among other things, she negotiated sponsorship contracts for her daughter , which, despite the great successes, lagged behind those of alpine racers like Picabo Street .

After her Olympic victory, her hometown West Milford honored Donna Weinbrecht with its own place-name signs. In 2004 she was honored by the US Ski and Snowboard Association with induction into the National Ski Hall of Fame.

successes

Olympic games

World championships

World Cup ratings

season total Moguls Dual moguls
space Points space Points space Points
1987/88 25th 6th 10. 45 - -
1988/89 8th. 11 2. 76 - -
1989/90 2. 12 1. 72 - -
1990/91 4th 12 1. 95 - -
1991/92 4th 12 1. 96 - -
1992/93 No results due to injury
1993/94 5. 100 1. 800 - -
1994/95 8th. 95 2. 664 - -
1995/96 2. 99 1. 792 2. 280
1996/97 13. 86 4th 432 10. 248
1997/98 22nd 75 7th 452 - -
2000/01 27. 58 15th 232 - -
2001/02 29 52 15th 312 - -

World Cup victories

Weinbrecht achieved 70 podium places in the World Cup, including 46 wins:

date place country discipline
January 17, 1989 Mont Gabriel Canada Moguls
March 23, 1989 Suomu Finland Moguls
December 16, 1989 Tignes France Moguls
January 6, 1990 Mont Gabriel Canada Moguls
January 13, 1990 Lake Placid United States Moguls
January 20, 1990 Breckenridge United States Moguls
January 28, 1990 Calgary Canada Moguls
February 10, 1990 Inawashiro Japan Moguls
17th February 1990 Iizuna Kogen Japan Moguls
March 16, 1990 La Clusaz France Moguls
December 15, 1990 Zermatt Switzerland Moguls
January 12, 1991 Blackcomb Canada Moguls
January 18, 1991 Breckenridge United States Moguls
January 19, 1991 Breckenridge United States Moguls
February 2, 1991 Mont Gabriel Canada Moguls
February 20, 1991 La Clusaz France Moguls
March 23, 1991 Hundfjälllet Sweden Moguls
December 6, 1991 Tignes France Moguls
17th December 1991 Piancavallo Italy Moguls
December 21, 1991 Morzine France Moguls
January 11, 1992 Blackcomb Canada Moguls
January 18, 1992 Breckenridge United States Moguls
January 24, 1992 Lake Placid United States Moguls
February 1, 1992 Oberjoch Germany Moguls
February 29, 1992 Inawashiro Japan Moguls
December 11, 1993 Tignes France Moguls
December 21, 1993 La Plagne France Moguls
January 8, 1994 Blackcomb Canada Moguls
January 15, 1994 Breckenridge United States Moguls
January 21, 1994 Lake Placid United States Moguls
January 29, 1994 Le relay Canada Moguls
March 6, 1994 Kirchberg Austria Moguls
March 12, 1994 Meiringen - Hasliberg Switzerland Moguls
January 14, 1995 Breckenridge United States Moguls
January 27, 1995 Lake Placid United States Moguls
February 22, 1995 Kirchberg Austria Moguls
5th January 1996 Lake Placid United States Moguls
January 13, 1996 Blackcomb Canada Moguls
January 19, 1996 Breckenridge United States Moguls
4th February 1996 Kirchberg Austria Moguls
February 14, 1996 La Clusaz France Moguls
March 6, 1996 Hundfjället Sweden Moguls
March 7, 1996 Hundfjället Sweden Dual moguls
March 15, 1996 Altenmarkt - Zauchensee Austria Moguls
January 24, 1997 Breckenridge United States Moguls
March 7, 1997 Altenmarkt-Zauchensee Austria Moguls

More Achievements

  • 7 US championship titles (Moguls 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1996)

Awards

  • 1988: US Freestyle Ski Team Rookie of the Year
  • 1990: Beck International Award
  • 1990–1992 and 1994–1997: Ann Hansen Award
  • 1993: Buddy Werner Award
  • 2004: Induction into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Donna Weinbrecht. Sports Reference LLC, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Stu Campbell: Comeback Queen. In: Ski. February 2001, pp. 78-83. Online (English).
  3. ↑ a b c Elizabeth Holste: Skiing in New Jersey? New Jersey 2005, ISBN 978-1-4116-6037-3 , pp. 31-33 (English).
  4. ↑ a b c Donna Weinbrecht - The self-taught Moguls Queen. In: Skiing. December 1990, p. 47 (English).
  5. ↑ a b c d Reade Bailey: Jersey Girl. In: Ski. February 1991, pp. 48-49 (English).
  6. ↑ a b Donna Weinbrecht - Hall of Fame Class of 2004. US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, accessed January 30, 2020 (English).
  7. ↑ Tom Kelly: Behind The Gold: Freestyle Skier Donna Weinbrecht. KPCW, November 25, 2013, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b Wendy Clinch: A Conservation with Donna Weinbrecht. The Ski Diva, January 3, 2012, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  9. ^ Bill Pennington: Salt Lake City 2002: The 19th Olympic Winter Games; Freestyle skiing. The New York Times , February 5, 2002, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b c 2017 US Ski & Snowboard Awards Manual. (PDF) US Ski & Snowboard, accessed on February 4, 2020 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Weinbrecht, Donna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weinbrecht, Donna L.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American freestyle skier
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Hoboken, New Jersey