Paul Accola

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Paul Accola Alpine skiing
nation SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
birthday 20th February 1967 (age 53)
place of birth Davos , Switzerland
job Entrepreneur
Career
discipline Downhill , Super-G , giant slalom ,
slalom , combination
status resigned
End of career March 4, 2005
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
World championships 0 × gold 1 × silver 2 × bronze
Junior World Championship 0 × gold 1 × silver 1 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
bronze Calgary 1988 combination
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
silver Vail 1989 combination
bronze Vail / Beaver Creek 1999 combination
bronze St. Anton 2001 combination
FIS Alpine Ski Junior World Championships
silver Jasná 1985 combination
bronze Jasná 1985 slalom
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
 Individual World Cup debut 17th January 1988
 Individual world cup victories 7th
 Overall World Cup 1. ( 1991/92 )
 Downhill World Cup 24th ( 2003/04 )
 Super G World Cup 1. (1991/92)
 Giant Slalom World Cup 3rd (1991/92)
 Slalom World Cup 2. (1991/92)
 Combination World Cup 1. (1991/92)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Super G 2 1 1
 Giant slalom 1 1 3
 slalom 1 4th 3
 combination 3 3 3
 

Paul Accola (born February 20, 1967 in Davos ) is a former Swiss ski racer . The all-rounder from the canton of Graubünden was among the world's best in all disciplines during the 1990s and was particularly successful in the combination . He won an Olympic bronze medal and a silver and two bronze medals at world championships. He had his most successful season in 1991/92, when he won all seven of his career World Cup victories and won the overall World Cup. After five appearances in the Olympic Games and seven appearances in the world championships, he resigned in 2005 at the age of 38. His younger sister Martina Accola was also a ski racer.

biography

Sports career

The trained carpenter grew up with his sister and two brothers on his parents' farm in Davos. After good performances at national youth and junior championships, the member of SC Davos was nominated in 1985 for the junior world championships in Jasná , Slovakia , where he finished third in slalom . In the next two seasons he competed in FIS races and was promoted to the national team. On January 17, 1988, he contested his first World Cup race and immediately finished eighth in the slalom in Bad Kleinkirchheim . This earned him qualification for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary , where he won the bronze medal in combination.

On December 6, 1988 Accola achieved a podium finish for the first time in a World Cup race when he was third in the slalom in Sestriere . At the 1989 World Ski Championships in Vail , he won the silver medal in the combination and just missed third place in the slalom. With further podium places in the 1989/90 and 1990/91 seasons, he established himself at the top of the world.

Accola had its most successful season in 1991/92. After winning a World Cup race in Breckenridge for the first time on November 29, 1991 , six more victories followed in the four months that followed. Accola thus secured victory in the overall World Cup ahead of Alberto Tomba and also won the Super-G and combined disciplines. Since a new point evaluation was used for the first time in the World Cup this year (100 instead of 25 points for the winner), his 1699 points meant a new record that lasted eight years and was only surpassed in 2000 by Hermann Maier with 2000 points. Currently (as of 2019) the 1699 points are the fourth highest in the men's World Cup (number of points ). Despite being a clear favorite, Accola did not succeed in winning a medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville .

Due to chronic back pain and various other injuries, Accola was unable to continue the performance of its best season from 1993 onwards. Although he was regularly among the top ten, podium places remained a rarity. For example, he was unable to contest the 1993 World Cup due to meniscus surgery. At the 1999 World Ski Championships in Vail, he surprisingly and contrary to the previous season, won the bronze medal in the combination, was fourth in the giant slalom and fifth in the super-G. He won another combination bronze medal at the 2001 World Ski Championships in St. Anton am Arlberg .

After he had to skip the entire 2002/03 season due to injury, Accola tried a comeback, but no longer achieved its previous level of performance. On February 20, 2005, on his 38th birthday, he announced his retirement from racing after almost two decades of skiing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . This last race of his career was his 359th World Cup race and he finished 31st. At this point he was by far the oldest driver in the World Cup.

Private

Accola is known for its brisk demeanor. In doing so, he often provoked arguments with trainers and association officials, which he carried out through the media. In September 2000 he was temporarily suspended by the Swiss Ski Association for repeated “indiscipline” and had to pay 10,000 francs to the youth development team as a fine. His interviews were characterized by dry humor . In 2001 he commented on winning the bronze medal in the World Cup in combination with the words "Nothing brings, nothing harms". He had already downplayed the importance of this discipline at the 1988 Olympic Games: “What is the combination! They don't care about a tail. "

Apart from skiing, Accola became known for its preference for walking excavators from the manufacturer Menzi Muck . With such a device he appeared in 1992 on Wetten, dass ..? to an obstacle course. In autumn 2008 he carried out the earthworks on the downhill run for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Krasnaya Polyana on behalf of slope planner Bernhard Russi . A particularly steep section of the Rosa Chutor slope is called "Accola Valley".

Accola has been an entrepreneur since the end of his sports career. He owns a dredging and timber transport company in Davos. In addition, he is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of a foundation that promotes young sports talents from the Canton of Graubünden; Snowboard Olympic champion Daniela Meuli is also a board member . Accola is married to Valérie Favre Accola and has a daughter and two sons. He is an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right To Play .

In April 2011 it became known that Accola was running for a seat on the National Council on the list for Swiss Abroad of the SVP of the Canton of Graubünden in the 2011 federal parliamentary elections. He wasn't elected. A candidacy for the municipal parliament of Davos was also unsuccessful in the same year. Paul Accola was successfully elected to the cantonal parliament for the second time as Deputy Grand Councilor in 2018.

On June 27, 2012, Paul Accola rolled over an eight-year-old boy in Davos while reversing with a mower. The boy died shortly afterwards of his injuries in the Cantonal Hospital of Graubünden . A criminal case for negligent homicide was dropped in April 2013 against Paul Accola. According to the public prosecutor's office, he was not at fault, he and another person had asked the boy to move out of the danger area before the accident. The hiring decision is final.

successes

Olympic games

World championships

World Cup ratings

Paul Accola won the overall World Cup in the 1991/92 season. There are also two victories in discipline ratings.

season total Departure Super G Giant slalom slalom combination
space Points space Points space Points space Points space Points space Points
1987/88 86. 8th - - - - - - 34. 8th - -
1988/89 20th 72 - - - - - - 14th 28 4th 44
1989/90 11. 109 - - 20th 11 - - 10. 58 2. 40
1990/91 8th. 114 - - 12. 13 15th 22nd 7th 67 4th 12
1991/92 1. 1699 34. 52 1. 429 3. 330 2. 588 1. 300
1992/93 18th 331 56. 4th 17th 83 8th. 165 23. 79 - -
1993/94 59. 107 - - 31. 25th 37. 27 28. 55 - -
1994/95 49. 137 - - 39. 14th 20th 83 - - 9. 40
1995/96 37. 214 57. 10 41. 12 15th 152 - - 11. 40
1996/97 22nd 372 36. 35 20th 65 14th 158 40. 24 4th 90
1997/98 17th 471 44. 19th 10. 114 12. 214 37. 28 5. 60
1998/99 13. 494 40. 27 10. 157 13. 185 26th 65 6th 60
1999/00 14th 547 26th 92 15th 115 13. 178 35. 62 4th 100
2000/01 27. 270 26th 64 24. 42 19th 119 - - 5. 45
2001/02 46. 168 39. 25th 14th 91 50. 7th - - 8th. 45
2002/03 No results due to injury
2003/04 51. 164 24. 86 22nd 78 - - - - - -
2004/05 92. 41 39. 29 51. 2 - - - - 21st 10

World Cup victories

Paul Accola has won a total of seven World Cup races (3 combinations, 2 Super-G, 1 giant slalom, 1 slalom). There are also nine second places and ten third places. 93 times he was among the top ten in world cup races.

date place country discipline
November 29, 1991 Breckenridge United States Giant slalom
November 30, 1991 Breckenridge United States slalom
January 13, 1992 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany combination
January 19, 1992 Kitzbühel Austria combination
January 26, 1992 Wengen Switzerland combination
February 1, 1992 Megève France Super G
March 1, 1992 Morioka Japan Super G

More Achievements

source

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Sport-Bild & Audi present the World Ski Championships '93 - Everything about the exciting races from February 3rd to 14th in Morioka (Japan)", Sport-Bild from February 3rd, 1993, p. 31ff, 32
  2. ↑ news.ch-sport from 1./2. April 2005
  3. ↑ a b Päuli's best sayings ( memento of the original from January 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.paulaccola.ch
  4. ↑ Pauli again on the mountain  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 667 kB), Blick, September 28, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.paulaccola.ch  
  5. ^ "Accola Valley" in the Caucasus Mountains . Swiss television , February 9, 2012
  6. ↑ Paul Accola wants to join the National Council for SVP , NZZ Online , April 19, 2011
  7. ↑ Ex-ski racer Accola fails again in elections. In: Tages-Anzeiger of November 27, 2011
  8. ↑ Paul Accola runs over child with mower. In: Tages-Anzeiger .ch / Newsnet from June 28, 2012
  9. ^ After a tractor accident: The case against Paul Accola has been dropped. In: Grenchner Tagblatt from April 29, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Accola, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ski racer
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Davos