Richi Christians

Richi Christians
nation	Switzerland
birthday	January 8, 1962
place of birth	Oberrickenbach
Career
discipline	Slalom , giant slalom , super-G , combination
society	Wolfenschiessen grass ski club
status	resigned
Medal table
World championships 3 × 1 × 3 × European championships 6 × 4 × 2 ×
Grass ski world championships gold Alberschwende 1981 slalom silver Kiama 1983 Giant slalom gold Owen 1985 slalom gold Owen 1985 combination bronze Nobeyama 1987 slalom bronze Nobeyama 1987 Super G bronze Nobeyama 1987 combination  European Grass Ski Championships silver Davos 1980 slalom bronze Davos 1980 combination gold Owen 1982 slalom gold Owen 1982 combination gold Gutenstein 1984 slalom gold Gutenstein 1984 combination silver Gutenstein 1984 Giant slalom gold Petersfield 1986 Giant slalom gold Petersfield 1986 combination silver Petersfield 1986 slalom silver Gutenstein 1988 slalom bronze Gutenstein 1988 combination
Placements in the European Cup
All European Cup 1. (1982, 1984, 1986)

Richi Christians (* 8. January 1962 in Oberrickenbach ) is a former Swiss grass skiing and alpine skiing - coach . He was one of the most successful grass skiers of the 1980s, was three times world champion , six times European champion and won the overall ranking of the European Cup three times . After his grass ski career, he was a trainer in the Swiss Ski Association from 1989 , including as the women's head trainer in the downhill.

biography

Christen grew up in Oberrickenbach, a district of Wolfenschiessen . After an apprenticeship as an electrical mechanic, he worked at the aircraft factory in Emmen . He started out with alpine skiing and celebrated some successes at the regional level as a teenager. He switched to grass skiing in the late 1970s, and from 1979 he took part in competitions. He achieved his first major successes in 1980 when he won two medals at the European Championships in Davos and all competitions of the Junior European Championships.

As a result, Christen developed into one of the most successful grass skiers of the 1980s. In 1981 he became world champion in slalom for the first time in Alberschwende . After a silver medal in giant slalom in 1983 - two years earlier he had been eliminated in this discipline - he won two gold medals in slalom and combined at the 1985 World Championships in Owen . In the giant slalom he just missed the medal ranks as fourth. In 1987 he achieved three third places in the slalom in Nobeyama , in the Super-G , which was newly included in the World Cup program, and in the combination.

Christen was even more successful at the European championships than at the world championships . After his first two medals in Davos in 1980, he became European champion in slalom and combined in Owen in 1982. In 1984 he again won two gold medals in slalom and combined in Gutenstein and also the silver medal in giant slalom. Also in 1986 he won two gold medals in Petersfield , this time in giant slalom and in combination, as well as the silver medal in slalom. In 1988 there was also a silver medal in slalom and a bronze medal in combination. With a total of six gold, four silver and two bronze medals, Christen was the most successful participant in the European Grass Ski Championships held from 1976 to 1996. In the European Cup , Christen emerged as the overall winner three times in 1982, 1984 and 1986. He also won a total of ten Swiss championship titles.

During his active grass ski career, Christen completed his training as a ski instructor and later a sports instructor training, which he completed in 1989. He worked as a ski instructor in winter and began in 1989 in the Swiss Ski Association as an assistant and fitness trainer in the B-team of alpine ski racers. From 1992 he was downhill assistant trainer in the women's A-team and later head coach of the women's downhill team. Christen has lived in Meiringen with his wife, with whom he has two children, since 1998 . Since 2000 he has been working as a product manager in golf .

successes

• Three world championship titles (slalom 1981 and 1985; combination 1985) and another four world championship medals from 1981 to 1987
• Six European championship titles (slalom 1982 and 1984; giant slalom 1986; combination 1982, 1984 and 1986) and another six European championship medals from 1980 to 1988
• Three times European Junior Champion 1980
• Three times overall victory in the European Cup in 1982, 1984 and 1986
• Ten Swiss championship titles

Web links

• In his element on grass. ( Memento from March 18, 2012 on WebCite ) Article in the ONZ Obwalden and Nidwalden newspaper from November 3, 2011. Archived from the original online version on March 18, 2012.