Klaus Spinka

Klaus Spinka
nation	Austria
birthday	July 25, 1960
place of birth	Neunkirchen
size	187 cm
Weight	82 kg
job	Instructor and ski trainer
Career
discipline	Slalom , giant slalom , super-G , combination
society	SC Grünbach-Schrattenbach
status	resigned
End of career	2004
Medal table
World championships 4 × 5 × 2 × European championships 0 × 3 × 4 ×
Grass ski world championships silver Bryce Resort 1979 Giant slalom bronze Kiama 1983 slalom bronze Kiama 1983 combination gold Nobeyama 1987 slalom silver Nobeyama 1987 Super G silver Nobeyama 1987 combination gold Kindberg 1989 slalom silver Kindberg 1989 Super G silver Bursa 1991 slalom gold Asiago 1993 slalom gold Asiago 1993 combination  European Grass Ski Championships silver Petersfield 1986 Giant slalom silver Petersfield 1986 combination bronze Petersfield 1986 slalom bronze Gutenstein 1988 slalom bronze Faistenau 1992 combination silver Kálnica 1994 Super G bronze Kálnica 1994 Giant slalom
Placements in the World Cup
Overall World Cup 12. ( 2003 )
Placements in the European Cup
All European Cup 2. (1986)

Klaus Spinka (born July 25, 1960 in Neunkirchen , Lower Austria ) is a former Austrian grass skier . He was four times world champion , won seven other world championship medals as well as seven medals at European championships and three Austrian championship titles .

Career

Spinka started out with alpine skiing . As a teenager he came to grass skiing and in 1978 he was accepted into the Austrian national team. At the first grass ski world championship , which was held in 1979 at Bryce Resort, Virginia , he finished second in the giant slalom. In the next few years, the Lower Austrian was repeatedly thrown back due to several injuries, which is why he did not achieve any further top results for the time being. In 1982 Spinka became Austrian champion for the first time and in the following year he was able to compete at the top again internationally. At the 1983 World Championships in Kiama , Australia , he won the bronze medal in slalom and combined, in giant slalom he was fifth. The 1985 World Championships in Owen , however, were very disappointing , where he only finished twelfth in the giant slalom.

In 1986 Spinka won his first medals at European championships . In Petersfield he was second in the giant slalom and in the combination and third in the slalom. In the European Cup he finished second behind the Swiss Richi Christen . His first major success came in 1987 at the World Championships in Nobeyama, Japan . Before the German Uwe Kalliwoda and Richi Christen, he became world champion in slalom. In the Super-G and in the combination he was second behind the Swiss Erwin Gansner and in the giant slalom he was fourth. At the World Championships in 1989 he was able to successfully defend his slalom title and in the Super-G he again finished second. At the European Championships in 1988 he was third in slalom, but in 1990 he did not reach any top places. Spinka won further medals at the 1991 World Championships (second place in slalom) and at the 1992 European Championships (third in combination, fifth in slalom). In 1993 he was twice at the top of the podium at the World Cup in Asiago . He won the slalom and the combination, was fifth in the super-G and sixth in the giant slalom. After the European Championship in 1994 in Kálnica , where he came second in the Super-G and third in the giant slalom, Spinka largely withdrew from the competition in order to devote himself more to his profession as a teacher and trainer at the sports school in Lilienfeld and his family.

In the next ten years Spinka only took part in occasional competitions, but still achieved good performances both nationally and internationally. In 1997 he became Austrian slalom champion for the second time after 1985 and in 2003 he took second place in the World Cup slalom in Nové Město na Moravě . In 2004 he finally ended his career.

Spinka builds Grasskier in a small company in Lilienfeld and is the second Austrian manufacturer of this sports equipment alongside Christian Balek .

successes

World championships

• Bryce Resort 1979 : 2nd giant slalom
• Kiama 1983 : 3rd slalom, 3rd combination, 5th giant slalom
• Owen / Teck 1985 : 12th giant slalom
• Nobeyama 1987 : 1st slalom, 2nd Super-G, 2nd combination, 4th giant slalom
• Kindberg 1989 : 1st slalom, 2nd super-G
• Bursa 1991 : 2nd slalom
• Asiago 1993 : 1st slalom, 1st combination, 5th super-G, 6th giant slalom

European championships

• Petersfield 1986 : 2nd giant slalom, 2nd combination, 3rd slalom
• Gutenstein 1988 : 3rd slalom
• Faistenau 1992 : 3rd combination, 5th slalom
• Kálnica 1994 : 2nd Super-G, 3rd giant slalom

World cup

• 2003 season : 12th overall

European Cup

• 1984 season : 3rd overall
• 1986 season : 2nd overall

Austrian championships

• Three times Austrian champion : slalom 1985 and 1997, giant slalom 1982

literature

• Austrian Ski (ed.): Austrian ski stars of A-Z . Ablinger & Garber, Hall in Tirol 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502285-7-1 , p. 420 .