María José Rienda

María José Rienda
nation	Spain
birthday	29th June 1975 (age 45)
place of birth	Granada , Spain
size	168 cm
Career
discipline	Giant slalom , slalom , super-G
society	SC Monachil Granada
status	resigned
End of career	April 16, 2011
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
Individual World Cup debut February 2, 1994  Individual world cup victories 6th  Overall World Cup 13th ( 2005/06 )  Super G World Cup 49th (2005/06)  Giant Slalom World Cup 2. (2005/06)  Slalom World Cup 31. ( 1998/99 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Giant slalom 6th 1 4th

María José Rienda Contreras (born June 29, 1975 in Granada ) is a former Spanish ski racer . She specialized in giant slalom and for several years belonged to the world leaders in this discipline. In addition, she occasionally drove Super G and slalom races.

biography

Rienda contested her first World Cup race, a downhill run , on February 2, 1994 in the Sierra Nevada not far from her birthplace, Granada. It was the only downhill run where she started. She got her first World Cup points on January 8, 1995 when she was 20th in the slalom in Haus im Ennstal . In the early years of her career, Rienda regularly competed in slalom races. Her best result in this discipline is a 13th place, achieved on January 17, 1999 in St. Anton am Arlberg . On October 31, 1999, the first top 10 placement in a World Cup giant slalom followed in Tignes .

For years, Rienda was one of the most consistent giant slalom runners, but it wasn't until October 25, 2003 that she achieved her first podium finish with third place in Sölden . At the end of winter 2004/05 she won the two giant slaloms in a row in Åre and on Lenzerheide . The last World Cup victory by a Spanish female ski racer was previously in 1991 ( Blanca Fernández Ochoa in Santa Caterina ). Rienda had her most successful season in 2005/06 : She won four more races and only had to admit defeat to Sweden's Anja Pärson in the giant slalom World Cup .

Rienda's record at World Championships and Olympic Winter Games is less successful. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , she finished sixth in the giant slalom after finishing third in the first run and still on the medal course. At the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere and at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio , she finished ninth in the giant slalom. Before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Rienda was one of the favorites in giant slalom, but only finished 13th.

On November 19, 2006, Rienda suffered a rupture of the inner ligament and cruciate ligament in her right knee when training in Colorado and had to skip the entire 2006/07 World Cup season. The following winter she only took part in one World Cup race. After starting the 2008/09 season with a 16th place, Rienda fell in the second giant slalom of the season in Aspen and suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in her left knee. She had to end the season early; also the end of her career was in the room.

At the beginning of the 2009/10 season, the now 34-year-old returned to the World Cup. But she was far from able to follow up on previous performances and won no more World Cup points. She ended her career on April 16, 2011.

successes

Olympic games

• Lillehammer 1994 : 21st giant slalom, 29th Super-G
• Nagano 1998 : 12th giant slalom, 14th slalom
• Salt Lake City 2002 : 6th giant slalom, 15th slalom
• Turin 2006 : 13th giant slalom, 37th Super-G
• Vancouver 2010 : 38th giant slalom

World championships

• Sierra Nevada 1996 : 18th slalom, 21st giant slalom
• Sestriere 1997 : 9th giant slalom
• Vail / Beaver Creek 1999 : 13th giant slalom, 26th slalom
• St. Anton 2001 : 10th giant slalom, 30th Super-G
• Santa Caterina 2005 : 9th giant slalom
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen 2011 : 28th Super-G, 31st giant slalom

World Cup ratings

season	total		Super G		Giant slalom		slalom
	space	Points	space	Points	space	Points	space	Points
1994/95	95.	19th	-	-	39.	19th	-	-
1995/96	95.	15th	-	-	41.	15th	-	-
1996/97	79.	27.	-	-	33.	27	-	-
1997/98	96.	9	-	-	44.	9	-	-
1998/99	57.	99	-	-	25th	65	31.	34
1999/00	51.	178	-	-	16.	174	55.	4th
2000/01	39.	171	-	-	11.	161	47.	10
2001/02	45.	166	-	-	15th	142	38.	24
2002/03	29	256	-	-	10.	237	41.	19th
2003/04	24.	339	-	-	3.	339	-	-
2004/05	19th	384	-	-	3.	384	-	-
2005/06	13.	546	49.	9	2.	537	-	-
2006/07	No results due to injury
2008/09	105.	15th	-	-	43.	15th	-	-

World Cup victories

date	place	country	discipline
February 20, 2005	Are	Sweden	Giant slalom
March 13, 2005	Lenzerheide	Switzerland	Giant slalom
December 10, 2005	Aspen	United States	Giant slalom
February 3, 2006	Often swing	Germany	Giant slalom
February 4, 2006	Often swing	Germany	Giant slalom
March 5, 2006	Hafjell	Norway	Giant slalom

European Cup

• 7 podium places, including 2 wins

Nor-Am Cup

• 2 podium places, including 1 victory

Junior World Championships

• Maribor 1992 : 26th combination, 39th giant slalom, 40th Super-G, 40th slalom, 50th descent

More Achievements

• 3-time Spanish Super-G champion (2004, 2005, 2006)
• 6-time Spanish giant slalom champion (1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006)
• 8-time Spanish slalom champion (1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011)
• 9 victories in FIS races (5 × giant slalom, 3 × slalom, 1 × Super-G)

Web links

• Maria José Rienda's website (Spanish)
• María José Rienda in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• María José Rienda in the database of Ski-DB (English)
• María José Rienda in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Portrait on skiinfo.de , October 2, 2006

Individual evidence

1. ↑ María José Rienda vuelve a lesionarse y dice adiós a la temporada ( Spanish ) notasdefutbol.com. November 29, 2008. Retrieved November 30, 2008.