Sonja Nef

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Sonja Nef Alpine skiing
nation SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
birthday 19th April 1972 (age 48)
place of birth Grub , Switzerland
size 164 cm
Career
discipline Giant slalom , slalom
society SC Grub-Eggersriet
status resigned
End of career January 29, 2006
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
World championships 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
bronze Salt Lake City 2002 Giant slalom
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
gold St. Anton 2001 Giant slalom
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
 Individual World Cup debut March 20, 1993
 Individual world cup victories 15th
 Overall World Cup 3. ( 2001/02 )
 Giant Slalom World Cup 1. ( 2000/01 , 2001/02)
 Slalom World Cup 2. (2000/01)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Giant slalom 13 6th 5
 slalom 2 3 3
 

Sonja Nef (born April 19, 1972 in Grub ) is a former Swiss ski racer . She specialized in giant slalom and slalom and was a member of the Swiss national team from 1996 to 2006. Serious knee injuries threatened the continuation of her athletic career several times in the first few years. Nef was still able to prevail and was one of the world's best giant slalom riders at the turn of the millennium. Her greatest successes were the world championship title in 2001 and the Olympic bronze medal in 2002. In the Alpine Ski World Cup she won 15 races and achieved 17 further podium places. In 2001 and 2002 she won the giant slalom discipline ranking, and in 2002 she was third in the overall ranking. She won a Swiss championship title seven times.

biography

Lengthy Injury

At the age of almost 16, Nef, who was considered a great talent, was accepted into the Swiss-Ski C-squad in 1988, which seemed to mark the path to top-class sport. In the following year she took part in the Austrian youth championships; She fell in the Super-G and tore a cruciate ligament in her right knee. The attending physician overlooked small tears in the cartilage, which led to lengthy complications. In FIS races , Nef was clearly inferior to the domestic competition. Two more operations in 1991 brought no relief and the first signs of osteoarthritis appeared . Only after a change of doctor and the fourth operation was there an improvement.

In 1992, Swiss-Ski downgraded Nef to the Eastern Switzerland regional association because of lack of success. Although she was now dependent on financial support from her parents, she was able to train again symptom-free for the first time in three years. In the 1992/93 season she won several FIS races with high starting numbers and also achieved top placings in the European Cup . Although she was no longer part of a national squad, she was allowed to participate in a World Cup race for the first time on March 20, 1993 . With 22nd place in the giant slalom in Vemdalen , she immediately won her first World Cup points. This was followed by the first Swiss championship title and admission to the B-team. In the summer of 1993 a piece of cartilage broke off again from the right knee, which required the fifth operation. Nef decided to limit himself to the disciplines of giant slalom and slalom, as downhill runs and super-G races would affect their health too much.

Establishment

In the 1993/94 season Nef had to dose their bets and only drove into the points twice. The 1994/95 season brought three results among the top ten, a significant increase, after which it was accepted into the national team. The advance to the top of the world she finally succeeded in the 1995/96 season . On January 6, 1996, Nef achieved second place in the giant slalom in Maribor, the first podium finish in a World Cup race. Three weeks later she won the slalom in Sestriere . At the 1996 World Championships in Sierra Nevada , she led after the first run of the giant slalom by over a second. However, she could not withstand the nervous strain and was eliminated in the second run after only four goals.

In March 1996, Nef had to have her right knee operated for the sixth time for cartilage damage. The end of her career seemed in sight, which is why she was on the lookout for alternative treatments. National coach Theo Nadig recommended a specialist to her and for the next few years had him inject fish oil into her knee every six weeks to prevent further cartilage damage. In addition, Nef completely changed her training program, since regular training with the rest of the team was no longer possible. She hired a private trainer; initially at your own expense, later paid for by the association.

The 1996/97 season was marked by numerous failures. The best result was a third place in the giant slalom in Cortina d'Ampezzo , at the 1997 World Championships in Sestriere, Nef took eighth place in the same discipline. In the 1997/98 season Nef drove much more consistently, with a second place as the best result. She qualified for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , but retired in the giant slalom and slalom in the first run. The 1998/99 season was similar ; in the giant slalom she came second and third, but the first victory in her strongest discipline was still a long time coming. The 1998/99 season ended rather disappointingly for her in Vail , where she finished eleventh in giant slalom and eliminated in slalom.

At the top of the world

In the winter of 1999/2000, Nef finally made it to the top of the world. At the start of the World Cup season in Tignes , she won her first giant slalom on October 31, 1999. Two more victories in Åre and Sestriere and a second place followed. In the slalom she was classified six times among the top ten. In the giant slalom discipline she only had to admit defeat to Michaela Dorfmeister , in the overall ranking she finished sixth.

In the 2000/01 season , Nef proved to be superior in the giant slalom. She won six out of eight World Cup races, five of them in a row. There was also a victory in a slalom, where she was the only one able to break through the dominance of serial winner Janica Kostelić . She decided the giant slalom discipline standings by a large margin and took second place in the slalom standings, which brought her fourth place in the overall standings. The highlight of the season was the 2001 World Cup in St. Anton am Arlberg . With a clear best time in both races, Nef won the gold medal in the giant slalom, in the slalom she finished seventh. Because of these achievements, she was voted Sportswoman of the Year .

Nef was similarly successful in the 2001/02 winter season . She won three giant slaloms and scored three other podiums. She was also on the podium three times in the slalom, but without being able to win a race. At the end of winter, this was enough for her to win the giant slalom discipline classification again, to place fourth in the slalom classification and third in the overall classification. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , she won the bronze medal in the giant slalom behind Janica Kostelić and Anja Pärson .

Renewed injuries and resignation

Nef was able to maintain the high level at the beginning of the 2002/03 winter season . On January 4, 2003, she won a World Cup giant slalom for the last time in Bormio , followed by a second place and some results among the top ten. At the 2003 World Championships in St. Moritz , she finished sixth in giant slalom and eighth in slalom. At the end of February 2003 she suffered another cruciate ligament tear while training and had to end the season prematurely.

The injury made itself felt in the following winter of 2003/04 in a falling level of performance. Although Nef was able to achieve a podium finish in the slalom for the last time, other good results were rare. This trend continued in winter 2004/05 . Her best placements were two fifth places. In the 2005/06 season she suffered from an inflammation of the hip. Nef was never ranked better than 20th place and couldn't qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics. On the occasion of a press conference on the sidelines of the Olympic races in Sestriere, she announced her immediate retirement from top-class sport on February 21, 2006. - On March 28, 2006, together with Hilde Gerg , she officially said goodbye to racing at a "Farewell Party" in Zürs , organized by her supplier company and attended by many current and former ski stars . As a parting present, both Nef and Gerg received a ski with the words “You never ski alone” engraved on it.

Private

Sonja Nef has been in a relationship with the Austrian Hans Flatscher since 1994 and has been married to him since 2011. The couple has two daughters (* 2006, * 2008) and a son (* 2013). During Nef's sports career, Flatscher worked as an alpine ski trainer at the German Ski Association, later at Swiss-Ski (from 2012 to 2018 as head coach of the women's national team). Nef lived temporarily in Unken im Pinzgau , but moved back to Switzerland before retiring. From 2005 to 2010 she was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pestalozzi Children's Village in Trogen .

successes

Olympic games

World championships

World Cup ratings

Sonja Nef has twice won the giant slalom discipline.

season total Giant slalom slalom
space Points space Points space Points
1992/93 120. 9 56. 9 - -
1993/94 106. 12 47 12 - -
1994/95 48. 141 15th 141 - -
1995/96 15th 489 5. 292 11. 197
1996/97 23. 270 13. 148 20th 122
1997/98 16. 443 4th 359 26th 63
1998/99 15th 454 4th 353 21st 101
1999/00 6th 789 2. 602 14th 187
2000/01 4th 1060 1. 676 2. 384
2001/02 3. 904 1. 574 4th 330
2002/03 13. 494 5. 329 14th 165
2003/04 29 283 16. 120 19th 163
2004/05 24. 275 17th 135 14th 140
2005/06 82. 38 38. 20th 38. 18th

World Cup victories

Nef achieved 32 podium places, of which 15 wins:

date place country discipline
January 26, 1996 Sestriere Italy slalom
October 31, 1999 Tignes France Giant slalom
February 17, 2000 Are Sweden Giant slalom
March 11, 2000 Sestriere Italy Giant slalom
November 16, 2000 Park City United States Giant slalom
December 19, 2000 Sestriere Italy Giant slalom
December 30, 2000 Semmering Austria Giant slalom
January 6, 2001 Maribor Slovenia Giant slalom
January 21, 2001 Cortina d'Ampezzo Italy Giant slalom
March 10, 2001 Are Sweden slalom
March 11, 2001 Are Sweden Giant slalom
December 16, 2001 Val d'Isère France Giant slalom
January 4, 2002 Maribor Slovenia Giant slalom
March 9, 2002 Flachau Austria Giant slalom
January 4, 2003 Bormio Italy Giant slalom

More Achievements

source

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Sonja Nef: Suffering for victories is worth it. skionline.ch, September 13, 2006, accessed on November 28, 2010 .
  2. ↑ Nef is in pain: career over? skionline.ch, January 29, 2006, accessed on November 28, 2010 .
  3. ↑ Sonja Nef: I would have preferred to say goodbye to the snow. skionline.ch, February 21, 2006, accessed on November 28, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Hans Flatscher new head coach for women. Swiss television, March 28, 2012, accessed on March 28, 2012 .
  5. ↑ 2009 annual accounts (PDF, 3.61 MB) Pestalozzi Children's Foundation, 2009, p. 32 , accessed on November 28, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Nef, Sonja
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ski racer
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Grub