Marie Theres Nadig

Marie Theres Nadig
nation	Switzerland
birthday	March 8, 1954 (aged 67)
place of birth	Flums , Switzerland
size	165 cm
Weight	64kg
Career
discipline	Downhill , giant slalom , slalom , combination
status	resigned
career end	March 15, 1981
medal table
Olympic games 2× 0× 1× World Championships 2× 0× 1×
winter Olympics gold Saporo 1972 Departure gold Saporo 1972 giant slalom bronze Lake Placid 1980 Departure  Alpine World Ski Championships gold Saporo 1972 Departure gold Saporo 1972 giant slalom bronze Lake Placid 1980 Departure
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
Individual World Cup debut 1970  Individual World Cup victories 24  Overall World Cup 1st ( 1980/81 )  Downhill World Cup 1st ( 1979/80 , 1980/81)  Giant Slalom World Cup 2. (1979/80, 1980/81)  Slalom World Cup 13th ( 1974/75 )  Combined World Cup 1. (1980/81)
podium finishes 1. 2. 3.  Departure 13 9 13  giant slalom 6 3 7  combination 5 0 1

Marie-Theres «Maite» Nadig (born March 8, 1954 in Flums ) is a former Swiss ski racer . In the 1970s and early 1980s she was particularly successful in the downhill , giant slalom and combination disciplines . But she was often overshadowed by her Austrian competitor Annemarie Moser-Proell . In total she won 24 World Cup races ; in the 1980/81 season they also decided the overall standings for themselves. Her greatest achievement was winning the downhill and giant slalom gold medals at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo . A downhill bronze medal was added at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid . After retiring from top-level sport in 1981, she worked as a coach for two decades, first in Liechtenstein , later in Switzerland.

skiing career

The daughter of an architect grew up with four siblings in Flumserberg , where she learned to ski. She first caused a stir in 1970 when she won the giant slalom, slalom and combined titles at the Swiss Junior Championships. In the winter of 1970/71 she was accepted into the national team and competed in the first races in the World Cup . On December 3, 1971, she scored World Cup points for the first time in sixth place in the downhill in St. Moritz . Six weeks later, the first podium finish followed in the giant slalom in Grindelwald , which secured her qualification for the 1972 Winter Olympics .

In Sapporo , Nadig surprisingly won the Olympic gold medal in the downhill and in the giant slalom, leaving behind Annemarie Moser-Proell , who was considered the favorite . The Olympic victories were also considered world champion titles. Nadig finished her first World Cup season in fifth place overall. Because of these achievements, she was voted Sportswoman of the Year .

In the winter of 1972/73 Nadig was not able to build on the performances of the previous year, the best result was a third place at the end of the season in Mont Sainte-Anne . In the winter of 1973/74 she drove much more consistently, with a second place in the downhill of the Silberkrug race in Bad Gastein as the best result. A World Cup victory was still missing. The 1974 World Championships in St. Moritz were disappointing , in which she finished fifth in the downhill and retired in the giant slalom.

In addition to ski races, Nadig also played football in the National League A. Until the start of the ski season, she trained at FC Zurich several times a week . The people of Zurich wanted to draw more attention to women's football with the Olympic champion. After a few years, she moved to the Bad Ragaz club in the first division .

.Prize ceremony for the Kapell run at the gold key race in Schruns in 1975:
1. Bernadette Zurbriggen , 2. Ingrid Schmid-Gfölner , 3. Marie-Theres Nadig

Nadig achieved her first World Cup victory on January 24, 1975, when she won the downhill in the Axamer Lizum near Innsbruck - it was the dress rehearsal for the Olympic race the following year. Another win followed at Jackson Hole late in the season . The 1975/76 season started promisingly with two third places, but then Nadig fell behind her usual level of performance and could not benefit from the fact that her biggest competitor, Moser-Proell, was absent for the whole winter. At the 1976 Winter Olympics , she missed the downhill due to a high fever. Recovered, she finished fifth in the giant slalom. Previously in the slalom she was unlucky again as she lost a stick at the start and had to retire after taking the split time.

The 1976/77 season went much better with several podium finishes and the first win in a combined classification. The winter of 1977/78 started promisingly with a downhill victory in Val-d'Isère , but then mediocre results followed again. Again, she did not win a medal at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen : in the downhill she finished fourth, in the giant slalom she did not reach the finish line. In the winter of 1978/79, Nadig achieved two World Cup victories, with the one on March 19 in the giant slalom in Furano at the season finale being particularly impressive: Her lead of 5.20 seconds over second-placed Moser-Proell is the largest ever in a World Cup race and remained unsurpassed.

During the 1979/80 season, Nadig dominated the downhills almost at will. She won six out of seven races and finished second once, which gave her her first World Cup discipline rating in a superior manner. There were also two victories in the giant slalom and a combination victory, which was enough for third place in the overall ranking. Because of her dominance, Nadig was considered the favorite to win downhill at the 1980 Winter Olympics . In Lake Placid , however, she was only third behind Annemarie Moser-Proell and Hanni Wenzel ; it was her worst result of the season in this discipline. This race, held in the freezing cold, also experienced gusts of wind; Swiss newspapers write that Nadig may have been disadvantaged in contrast to the competition.

Nadig's dominance continued into the 1980/81 season after Moser-Proell's retirement. She won four downhills, three giant slaloms and two combinations. As a result, she superiorly secured victory in the overall ranking, in the giant slalom ranking and in the combined ranking. She was then awarded the Skieur d'Or by the International Association of Ski Journalists (AIJS) . After the end of her most successful season ever, Nadig lacked the motivation for summer training, finally in July 1981 she announced her retirement from top-class sport.

trainer

Even after that, Nadig remained connected to skiing. While she was still active, she opened a sports shop in Flumserberg, which she transformed from a sole proprietorship into a stock corporation in 1979 . She is still the president of her Nadig Sport AG today. She set up the shop in the hotel of former ski racer Edmund Bruggmann . She also trained as a ski instructor and ran her own racing school, which she later integrated into the local ski school.

Following the example of her brother Theo, who was seven years older and was a successful coach, Nadig also acquired a coaching license. In 1986, she took over the supervision of young Liechtenstein athletes, although she had to start practically from scratch after the retirement of numerous world-class athletes. She led several athletes, including Marco Büchel , Birgit Heeb and Markus Foser , to the top of the world. After ten years she switched to the Swiss Ski Association and looked after the downhill skiers of the B squad.

In 1999, Nadig was finally appointed coach of the A squad. Her main task was to build a successful downhill team around Corinne Rey-Bellet , which was only partially successful, since the association had neglected youth work in previous years. In March 2004, Nadig took over as head coach of the national team. Again, she had to deal with the missing base. The 2004/05 season was the worst season ever for Swiss ski racers since the World Cup was introduced. After the team failed to win a medal at the 2005 World Championships , Nadig was released in March 2005. In October 2005 she finally ended her coaching career.

successes

Olympic games

• Sapporo 1972 : 1st downhill, 1st giant slalom
• Innsbruck 1976 : 5th giant slalom
• Lake Placid 1980 : 3rd descent

World Championships

• Sapporo 1972 : 1st Combination
• St Moritz 1974 : 5th descent
• Innsbruck 1976 : 5th giant slalom
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1978 : 4th descent
• Lake Placid 1980 : 3rd descent

Note: The 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympic events also counted as World Championships.

World Cup Ratings

Nadig won the overall World Cup in 1981, plus three more victories in discipline classifications.

season	total		Departure		giant slalom		slalom		combination
	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points	place	Points
1971/72	5.	111	3.	71	6.	37	23	3	-	-
1972/73	17	48	10	22	9.	36	-	-	-	-
1973/74	6.	123	2.	72	9.	28	-	-	-	-
1974/75	4.	154	3.	100	10	22	13.	11	-	-
1975/76	14	58	10	27	10	19	16	12	-	-
1976/77	6.	133	3.	81	23	3	-	-	-	-
1977/78	10	63	3.	78	14	10	-	-	-	-
1978/79	5.	156	3.	89	4.	94	-	-	-	-
1979/80	3.	221	1.	125	2.	95	22	11	6.	25
1980/81	1.	289	1.	120	2.	97	28	7	1.	86

World Cup victories

Nadig won 24 World Cup races (13 downhill, 6 giant slalom, 5 combined). There were also 12 second places, 21 third places and 55 other places in the top ten.

Departure date location country January 24, 1975 innsbruck Austria March 11, 1975 Jackson Hole USA December 7, 1977 Val d'Isere France December 5, 1979 Val d'Isere France December 14, 1979 Piancavallo Italy December 19, 1979 Zell am See Austria January 7, 1980 Pfronten Germany January 15, 1980 Arosa Switzerland January 20, 1980 Bad Gastein Austria December 3, 1980 Val d'Isere France December 12, 1980 Piancavallo Italy January 19, 1981 Crans Montana Switzerland January 29, 1981 Megeve France

giant slalom date location country March 19, 1979 Furano Japan December 6, 1979 Val d'Isere France March 2, 1980 Mont Sainte Anne Canada December 8, 1980 Lemon Piemonte Italy February 10, 1981 Maribor Yugoslavia March 13, 1981 Furano Japan combination date location country January 26, 1977 Crans Montana Switzerland December 18, 1978 Val d'Isere France December 6, 1979 Val d'Isere France December 12, 1980 Lemon Piemonte Italy January 27, 1981 Les Gets France

Swiss championship title

Nadig was Swiss champion four times :

• 1 × departure: 1972
• 2 × giant slalom: 1976, 1980
• 1 × combination: 1972

awards

• 1972: Swiss Sportswoman of the Year
• 1981: Skieur d'Or

source

• International Sports Archive, Issue 46/2001 ( Munzinger Archive )

web links

Commons : Marie-Thérèse Nadig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Marie-Theres Nadig in the International Ski Federation database
• Marie-Theres Nadig in the Ski-DB database
• Marie-Theres Nadig in the database of Olympedia.org (English)

itemizations

1. ↑ Marco Ackermann: "I had a tremendous shot" . In: New Zurich newspaper . No. 98 , April 28, 2020, p. 32 ( nzz.ch [accessed 28 April 2020]).
2. ↑ Markus Roth, Reto Voneschen: «I never went skiing for the money». In: Southeastern Switzerland. 14 July 2018, retrieved 28 April 2020 . 
3. ^ Excerpt from the commercial register of Nadig Sport AG
4. ↑ Wedeln, where Marie-Theres Nadig trained , Die Zeit , December 6, 1985
5. ↑ Marie-Theres Nadig no longer head coach of the Swiss women , skiinfo.de, March 14, 2005
6. ↑ Swiss-Ski separates from Marie-Theres Nadig , skiinfo.de, October 11, 2005