Günther Foidl

Günther Foidl
Full name	Günther Maximilian Foidl
nation	Austria
birthday	July 22, 1982
place of birth	Waidring
size	185 cm
Weight	105 kg
job	Development engineer
Career
society	SC Waidring
Trainer	self
National squad	since 2008
Debut in the World Cup	February 25, 2007
Pers. Top speed	208.333 km / h
status	resigned
End of career	2018
Medal table
PopKL 2008 bronze Verbier SDH Velocity Challenge 2009 gold Sun peaks SDH PopKL / 1 2009 gold Verbier SDH PopKL / 2 2009 gold Verbier SDH Velocity Challenge 2010 gold Sun peaks SDH PopKL / 1 2010 gold Verbier SDH PopKL / 2 2010 gold Verbier SDH PopKL / 1 2011 gold Verbier SDH PopKL / 2 2011 gold Verbier SDH FIS-WSC 2013 silver Vars SDH Velocity Challenge 2013 gold Sun peaks SDH PopKL / 2 2013 gold Verbier SDH Velocity Challenge 2014 gold Sun peaks SDH FIS-WSC 2015 gold Grand Valira SDH Velocity Challenge 2015 gold Sun peaks SDH
Placements in the Speed ​​Ski World Cup
World Cup victories 12
last change: April 23, 2016

Günther Foidl (born July 22, 1982 in Waidring ) is an Austrian speed skier .

His greatest successes to date are the 2015 world champion title in the downhill class, the 2013 runner-up world champion title in the downhill class and winning the overall World Cup in 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2012/13 in the FIS downhill class , whereby he had participated in the entire World Cup for the first time in the 2008/2009 season. He is also the first Austrian and at the same time the only athlete with this success, as well as one of only 16 downhillers who have ever ridden over 200 km / h. In the global ranking it ranks 4th with 208.333 km / h and 1st in the Austrian ranking. At the Speedmasters 2015 in Vars he achieved victory with 202.475 km / h and set an (unofficial) record with a 6.5 km / h advantage.

Athletic career

Foidl has been skiing since he was three. Driven by the fascination for speed in general and the gliding technique on skis, he came to speed driving by chance, which he has been practicing semi-professionally since 2007 and since the 2008/09 season. Since all costs have to be borne by yourself, this is only possible with the support of his personal sponsors.

Sporting successes

In his previous starts in international races and races of the FIS he achieved good placements.

For his successes, the Federal President of the Republic of Austria awarded him the Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria by resolution of September 4, 2013 . The Tyrolean sports badge in gold was given to him by LH Günther Platter and LH-Deputy. Josef Geisler awarded on February 19, 2015.

End of career

In the winter of 2015/16, Foidl fell ill with Löfgren's syndrome . In the short-term comeback in Vars , he was able to achieve victory with 190.476 km / h, but had to take a break afterwards due to illness.

In the following winters there were repeated relapses in Löfgren's syndrome, which is why Foidl announced his retirement from active racing at the annual general meeting of the Tyrolean Ski Association in 2018.

Personal

Foidl comes from a "normal sporty" family. He is single and has a committed relationship. He works as a freelance programmer and development engineer. His main task is the development of analysis tools for the (gas) engine industry. Methods of artificial intelligence are mainly used. He volunteers to support programmers in several forums.

Web links

• Günther Foidl on speedski-info.com (English, French )
• Günther Foidl in the database of the International Ski Association (English)

References and comments

1. ↑ Günther Foidl's placements on speedski-info.com. Explanations:
   • SDH is the FIS abbreviation for Speed ​​Ski Downhill.
   • PopKL is an international racing series in Switzerland.
   • KL is an abbreviation from Italian and stands for “kilometro lanciato”, which means “flying kilometer” in German.
2. ↑ In a few weeks from a wheelchair to 190.476 km / h