Michael "Mike" von Grünigen (born April 11, 1969 in Schönried , often also called MvG ) is a former Swiss ski racer . From the mid-1990s to 2003, he was one of the best runners in giant slalom . He dominated this discipline almost at will and is, based on the number of victories, the fourth most successful athlete after Ingemar Stenmark , Marcel Hirscher and Ted Ligety . Von Grünigen won four world championship medals (two of them gold) and one Olympic medal. In addition, he won the giant slalom discipline of the Alpine Ski World Cup four times . In his second discipline, slalom , he was at times among the world's best. With his reserved manner, he was considered one of the poles of calm in the otherwise hectic World Cup. His sister Christine von Grünigen , who was five years older than him, was also successful in alpine skiing.
Von Grünigen grew up in simple circumstances in Schönried. At the age of three he learned to ski. He lost his parents at an early age: his mother died of a stroke when he was six years old, and his father had a fatal accident three years later in a tractor accident. As an orphan , von Grünigen was raised by his older siblings. After finishing compulsory schooling in 1985, he completed an apprenticeship as an agricultural machinery mechanic . After numerous races at junior level, he went to Sälen to the Junior World Championship in 1987 , where he won the silver medal in slalom. A little later he was accepted into the Swiss national team.
On January 10, 1989 von Grünigen contested his first World Cup race, the giant slalom in Kirchberg . A few months later, on November 23, 1989, he took sixth place in the giant slalom in Park City and scored his first World Cup points. Sixth place remained his best result in the next season. In the giant slalom of the 1991 World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm , he finished seventh. During the 1991/92 season, he continued to approach the world's best, with fourth place as the best result. At the Olympic Games in 1992 he was classified seventh in the slalom.
Von Grünigen celebrated the first of a total of 23 World Cup victories on January 19, 1993 in Veysonnaz . The new favorite role he could not do justice to the 1993 World Championships in Morioka because he was eliminated in the giant slalom. The same mishap in his favorite discipline happened to him at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer , where he was eliminated in the second run with intact chances of winning a medal. In November 1994 he achieved his second victory in Val-d'Isère . A month later he suffered a shoulder injury, but he was able to continue racing with a special arm restraint.
After two wins at the beginning of the 1995/96 season, von Grünigen became a favorite at the 1996 World Cup in the Sierra Nevada , but had to be satisfied with the bronze medal. The third place in the slalom came as a surprise. He finished the season as the winner of the Giant Slalom World Cup and reached 3rd place in the overall standings. He confirmed his exceptional talent in the 1996/97 season with four victories, winning the Giant Slalom World Cup again and fifth place in the overall standings. At the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere , he won the gold medal in the giant slalom by over a second over Lasse Kjus ; he finished the slalom in seventh place.
Due to the dominance of the Austrians, he could not defend the Giant Slalom World Cup in the 1997/98 season; nevertheless he got two victories. In Nagano he won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics , where he had to admit defeat to the Austrians Hermann Maier and Stephan Eberharter . In the 1998/99 season von Grünigen was able to prevail again in the Giant Slalom World Cup, but at the 1999 World Championships he remained without a medal. The carving ski technique began to dominate the World Cup from the 1999/2000 season. Von Grünigen remained without a win for the first time since 1994. In order not to lose touch, he changed the ski brand (from Rossignol to Fischer Sports ) and adapted his skiing style.
The change paid off: In St. Anton am Arlberg , von Grünigen won the gold medal in the giant slalom for the second time at the 2001 World Championships . In the World Cup, he won three races, but had to leave the discipline classification to Hermann Maier. The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City ended unsuccessfully for von Grünigen, as did the 2003 World Championships in St. Moritz . In contrast, he was able to win the Giant Slalom World Cup again in his last season. At his last World Cup race on March 16, 2003, he completed the second run of the slalom with historical ski equipment.
Von Grünigen resigned at the end of March 2003 after the Swiss Championships in Verbier . Since then he has worked in various functions for his former outfitter Fischer (racing coordinator, material tests, development of new skis, marketing and sales promotion). In addition, he performs various mandates for sponsors and in the youth work of Swiss-Ski . Von Grünigen has been married since 1994 and has three sons. His eldest son Noel von Grünigen is also a ski racer.
Von Grünigen won 23 world cup races (all of them giant slalom). He came second 14 times and third 9 times. In the slalom he reached second place twice (each in Wengen ).
Switzerland
