Karen Putzer grew up in Welschnofen , where she still lives today. The daughter of a ski instructor started skiing when she was three years old. She proved to be a great talent and won the Trofeo Topolino in 1991 . On January 23, 1995, when she was 16, she took part in a World Cup race for the first time . In the following year she became giant slalom junior world champion in Hoch-Ybrig . Three more junior world championship titles in super-G, giant slalom and combined followed in 1997 in Schladming .
On January 23, 1998 she reached third place in the Super-G of Cortina d'Ampezzo for the first time a podium in a World Cup race. But both at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and at the 1998 Junior World Championships in Megève , she could not meet expectations. Her breakthrough came in the season after next ; on December 19, 1999, she won her first World Cup race with the Super-G in St. Moritz .
At the Ski World Cup 2001 in St. Anton am Arlberg , Karen Putzer won two medals, silver in the giant slalom and bronze in the combination . Another medal was added at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City for third place in the Super-G. In 2002/03 she had her best season in the World Cup. With five victories she reached the second place in the overall ranking, in the giant slalom ranking she had to admit defeat by a single point to the Swede Anja Pärson .
In the following winter, Karen Putzer could only contest two races. After a cruciate ligament rupture , she was sidelined throughout the 2003/04 season . In 2005 she was able to establish herself at the top of the world again with several placements among the top ten and a podium. The best result of the 2005/06 season was an eighth place, after the end of the season she had to undergo a hip replacement. In January 2007 she made a comeback by winning the giant slalom in Cortina d'Ampezzo .
In the next winter, Putzer had to undergo another hip operation after four World Cup races. In the 2008/2009 season she remained without a top result, a ninth place in the giant slalom in Maribor was her best result. Due to persistent health problems, she refrained from participating in races from winter 2009/10.
Italy
