Pirmin Zurbriggen

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Pirmin Zurbriggen Alpine skiing
Pirmin Zurbriggen.JPG
Pirmin Zurbriggen in June 2014
nation SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
birthday 4th February 1963 (age 57)
place of birth Saas-Almagell , Switzerland
size 183 cm
Weight 83 kg
job Hotelier, association official
Career
discipline Downhill , Super-G ,
giant slalom ,
slalom , combination
status resigned
End of career March 17, 1990
Medal table
Olympic games 1 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
World championships 4 × gold 4 × silver 1 × bronze
Junior European Championship 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold Calgary 1988 Departure
bronze Calgary 1988 Giant slalom
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
gold Bormio 1985 Departure
gold Bormio 1985 combination
silver Bormio 1985 Giant slalom
gold Crans-Montana 1987 Super G
gold Crans-Montana 1987 Giant slalom
silver Crans-Montana 1987 Departure
silver Crans-Montana 1987 combination
silver Vail 1989 Super G
bronze Vail 1989 Giant slalom
FIS Alpine Junior European Ski Championships
gold Madonna di Campiglio 1980 Departure
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
 Individual World Cup debut 7th December 1980
 Individual world cup victories 40
 Overall World Cup 1. ( 1983/84 , 1986/87 ,
1987/88 , 1989/90 )
 Downhill World Cup 1. (1986/87, 1988/89 )
 Super G World Cup 1. (1986/87, 1987/88,
1988/89, 1989/90)
 Giant Slalom World Cup 1. (1986/87, 1988/89)
 Slalom World Cup 6. ( 1985/86 )
 Combination World Cup 1. (1985/86, 1986/87,
1989/90)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Departure 10 5 4th
 Super G 10 9 4th
 Giant slalom 7th 6th 6th
 slalom 2 2 2
 combination 11 4th 1
last change: March 3, 2018

Pirmin Zurbriggen (born February 4, 1963 in Saas-Almagell ) is a former Swiss ski racer . He was one of the most outstanding athletes in alpine skiing in the 1980s and, with 40 World Cup victories, is one of the most successful ski racers of all time. Zurbriggen is an Olympic downhill champion and has won the overall World Cup four times . In his three world championships he won a total of nine medals (four gold, four silver and one bronze). Added to this is the twelve-time win in a World Cup discipline. He is also a member of the small group of runners who have won World Cup races in all five disciplines . Today Zurbriggen is a hotelier and President of the Valais Ski Association. His son Elia and his younger sister Heidi are or were also ski racers.

Sports career

Zurbriggen, who comes from the rear of the Saas Valley , skied for the first time at the age of four and competed in his first student races when he was seven. In 1976 he became Swiss youth champion in giant slalom on Lenzerheide and repeated this success in Sörenberg in 1977 . A few months later, the Swiss Ski Association accepted him into the junior training group. At the 1980 European Junior Championships in Madonna di Campiglio , he first drew international attention when he won the gold medal in the downhill race .

On December 7, 1980 Zurbriggen came in the downhill from Val-d'Isère for the first time in the World Cup and reached the 36th place. He won his first World Cup points on January 4, 1981 as fifth in the combination in Ebnat-Kappel . In Wengen , he celebrated his first World Cup victory on January 24, 1982 by winning the prestigious Lauberhorn combination. Exactly two months later, he won his first individual race at the giant slalom in San Sicario .

Entry into the top of the world

Zurbriggen established himself at the top of the world with two victories during the 1982/83 season. In the 1983/84 season he won the overall World Cup ranking with a total of four wins, in the giant slalom discipline ranking he scored 115 points like Ingemar Stenmark , but the ranking went to the Swede because he had the larger number of wins. Before the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo , Zurbriggen was one of the closest favorites, but could not meet expectations. He was eliminated in the giant slalom and the slalom and, in fourth place, missed the bronze medal by ten hundredths of a second.

The 1984/85 season began with a winning streak, with the two downhill victories on the Streif in Kitzbühel being the highlight. Zurbriggen suffered an injury to the meniscus , and his participation in the 1985 World Ski Championships , which took place three weeks later in Bormio , seemed to be in jeopardy. In the Rennbahn Clinic in Muttenz , he was operated on using a newly developed arthroscopy method. A media hype that had never been seen before in Switzerland developed around the “knee of the nation” ; the rapid healing process made headlines every day. Just two weeks later, to the amazement of many, Zurbriggen was back on skis. In Bormio he won the world title in downhill and combined, plus the silver medal in giant slalom. Because of these results, he was voted Swiss Sportsman of the Year . On the other hand, however, he lost the overall World Cup because he could not compete in ten decisions due to the injury break.

During the 1985/86 season Zurbriggen was able to place in all five disciplines at least once in the top five. Because of the then customary prank results , however, the Luxembourg won Marc Girardelli as the year before the World Cup. Zurbriggen had his most successful season by far in 1986/87. With a total of eleven victories, he not only won the overall World Cup, but also four out of five discipline rankings, which no one apart from him has yet achieved. At the Ski World Championships in 1987 in Crans-Montana , Zurbriggen was world champion in super-G and giant slalom as well as second in downhill and combined.
His victory in the Lauberhorn combination on January 18th was curious this season, when he won it (as downhill ninth and slalom tenth) without competition, because no other runner had contested the downhill on January 17th , took part in the slalom and therefore Zurbriggen was the only one on the ranking list.

Olympic gold for the first time

Zurbriggen was also extremely successful in the 1987/88 season. At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary , he won the gold medal in the downhill and was third in the giant slalom. He missed another medal (possibly gold) in the combination when he - after his victory in the "Kombi-Downhill" on February 16 (1.61 seconds ahead of the later gold medalist Hubert Strolz, who was placed 5th ) and after the 1st run of the "Kombi-Slalom" on February 17th - promisingly positioned in the intermediate ranking in 1st place, in the 2nd run fell after approx. 30 seconds (running time around 41 seconds).

The decision to win the overall World Cup was made in the last race of the season. In the final slalom in Saalbach-Hinterglemm , Zurbriggen finished fourth, while Alberto Tomba , who was leading after the first run, was eliminated. Zurbriggen also won the downhill and giant slalom disciplines.

In 1988/89 Zurbriggen won the discipline rankings in Super-G and Giant Slalom, but had to admit defeat Girardelli in the overall World Cup. At the 1989 World Ski Championships in Colorado , he finished second in the Super-G and third in the giant slalom. In 1989/90 Zurbriggen was able to celebrate victory in the overall World Cup for the fourth time, and he also decided the discipline rankings in the Super G World Cup and the Combined World Cup. The last World Cup race of his career he contested on March 17, 1990 in Åre , where he was eleventh in the downhill. Two weeks later he held a farewell race in Crans-Montana. During his career, Zurbriggen was awarded the Skieur d'Or by the International Association of Ski Journalists (AIJS) four times.

After the resignation

Zurbriggen married Monika Julen on June 30, 1989, who is related to the giant slalom Olympic champion Max Julen ; the couple has five children. He took over his parents' hotel in Saas-Almagell, bought another hotel in Zermatt and advertised several Swiss companies. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch honored him with the Olympic Order in June 2001 . On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Swiss-Ski in July 2004, Pirmin Zurbriggen and Vreni Schneider were elected as the “federal athletes of the century in skiing and snow sports”.

Pirmin Zurbriggen has been President of the Valais Ski Association since 2004. In this function he developed a new concept for promoting young talent; He is also jointly responsible for setting up the national performance center for snow sports (NLS) in Brig . In February 2008 he announced that he would not run again as president of Swiss-Ski. He agreed, however, to work on the Presidium, to which he then belonged for a little more than three years. In April 2011 he announced his immediate resignation for private reasons.

successes

Olympic games

World championships

  • Bormio 1985 : 1st descent, 1st combination, 2nd giant slalom
  • Crans-Montana 1987 : 1st Super-G, 1st giant slalom, 2nd descent, 2nd combination
  • Vail 1989 : 2nd Super-G, 3rd giant slalom, 15th downhill

World Cup ratings

Pirmin Zurbriggen has won the overall World Cup four times (1984, 1987, 1988, 1990), plus eleven further victories in discipline rankings.

season total Departure Super G Giant slalom slalom combination
space Points space Points space Points space Points space Points space Points
1980/81 31. 46 - - - - 17th 35 - - 18th 11
1981/82 11. 96 - - - - 6th 67 33. 4th 7th 25th
1982/83 6th 161 26th 11 - - 4th 90 21st 13 3. 47
1983/84 1. 256 10. 59 - - 2. 115 24. 17th 2. 65
1984/85 2. 244 5. 79 - - 2. 102 14th 38 9. 25th
1985/86 2. 284 11. 55 2. 67 10. 30th 6th 79 1. 65
1986/87 1. 339 1. 125 1. 85 1. 102 21st 14th 1. 50
1987/88 1. 310 1. 122 1. 58 4th 65 9. 45 4th 20th
1988/89 2. 309 4th 94 1. 62 1. 82 15th 26th 3. 45
1989/90 1. 357 3. 105 1. 98 6th 48 11. 56 1. 50

World Cup victories

Pirmin Zurbriggen has won a total of 40 world cup races (11 combinations, 10 downhill runs, 10 super-G, 7 giant slaloms, 2 slaloms). There are also 26 second places and 17 third places. 169 times he was among the top ten in World Cup races.

Departure

date place country
January 11, 1985 Kitzbühel Austria
January 12, 1985 Kitzbühel Austria
August 16, 1986 Las Leñas Argentina
5th December 1986 Val d'Isère France
January 10, 1987 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany
January 25, 1987 Kitzbühel Austria
March 7, 1987 Aspen United States
January 9, 1988 Val d'Isère France
January 29, 1988 Schladming Austria
December 16, 1989 Val Gardena Italy

Super G

date place country
December 19, 1983 Val Gardena Italy
March 20, 1984 Oppdal Norway
7th December 1984 Puy-Saint-Vincent France
March 17, 1985 panorama Canada
February 28, 1986 Hemsedal Norway
March 8, 1987 Aspen United States
November 27, 1988 Schladming Austria
December 12, 1989 Sestriere Italy
February 6, 1990 Courmayeur Italy
March 10, 1990 Hemsedal Norway

Giant slalom

date place country
March 24, 1982 San Sicario Italy
January 11, 1983 Adelboden Switzerland
March 5, 1984 Aspen United States
January 13, 1987 Adelboden Switzerland
January 20, 1987 Adelboden Switzerland
February 15, 1987 Todtnau Germany
November 29, 1988 Val Thorens France

slalom

date place country
December 10, 1984 Sestriere Italy
February 23, 1986 Are Sweden

combination

date place country
January 24, 1982 Wengen Switzerland
22nd December 1982 Madonna di Campiglio Italy
January 29, 1984 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany
January 11, 1985 Puy-Saint-Vincent France
January 19, 1986 Kitzbühel Austria
February 23, 1986 Are Sweden
January 18, 1987 Wengen Switzerland
January 25, 1987 Kitzbühel Austria
December 22, 1988 St. Anton am Arlberg Austria
January 12, 1990 Schladming Austria
January 21, 1990 Kitzbühel Austria

More Achievements

  • European Junior Championship 1980 in Madonna di Campiglio: 1st descent
  • 5 Swiss championship titles (Super-G 1989; giant slalom 1986, 1987, 1989; combined 1989)
  • Victory at the officially first Super-G in skiing history on December 10, 1981 in La Villa (not counting for the World Cup)
  • Victory in the Super-G in Bormio, which is only part of the Nations Cup, as part of the World Series of Skiing on November 24, 1982
  • Victory in the giant slalom in Bormio, which is only part of the Nations Cup, as part of the World Series of Skiing on November 25, 1983
  • Victory in the parallel slalom in Bormio on December 22, 1987, which is only part of the Nations Cup.

Awards

Others

The Swiss punk new wave band Der böse Bub Eugen released the song Pirmin in 1988 , which referred to the ski racer Pirmin Zurbriggen. Laura Zurbriggen is his niece.

swell

Web links

Commons : Pirmin Zurbriggen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bormio 85 - if only it were still that way - news.ch, February 2, 2005
  2. ↑ Pirmin Zurbriggen and Vreni Schneider Athletes of the Century - toponline.ch, July 4, 2004
  3. ↑ Pirmin Zurbriggen renounces the Swiss Ski Presidium - skionline.ch, February 1, 2008
  4. ↑ Zurbriggen's surprising departure in: Tages-Anzeiger of April 14, 2011
  5. ↑ Swiss Zurbriggen won Super-RTL . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 11, 1981, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  6. ↑ Zurbriggen before Gaspoz . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna November 25, 1982, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  7. ↑ Austrians in the giant slalom of Bormio: Terrifyingly weak . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna November 26, 1983, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  8. ^ Swiss parallel triumph . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna December 23, 1987, p. 23 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  9. ↑ The bad boy Eugen - Pirmin. discogs.com, accessed February 4, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Laura Zurbriggen talks about separation from DJ Antoine. Nau.ch from August 2, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Zurbriggen, Pirmin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ski racer
DATE OF BIRTH 4th February 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Saas-Almagell