Tobias Grünenfelder (born November 27, 1977 in Elm ) is a former Swiss ski racer . He specialized in the downhill , super-G and giant slalom disciplines. In the course of his career he was able to win a world cup race. His older sister Corina and his older brother Jürg were also active as ski racers.
In his junior years, Grünenfelder mainly drove giant slaloms and slaloms . His first appearances in the European Cup were in January 1996, and a year later he achieved his first top 10 placement at this level. He won his first FIS race in November 1996. On January 5, 1997, he made his debut in the World Cup , at the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora . However, Grünenfelder struggled to catch up with the world's best, because the first World Cup points were another two years away. He won this on January 5, 1999, again at the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora.
In the 1999/2000 season, Grünenfelder did not have a countable World Cup result. He refrained from further slalom starts and gradually began to turn to the fast disciplines - but initially without success. On January 19, 2002, he won a European Cup race for the only time, a giant slalom in Saas-Fee . During the 2001/02 season he achieved top 10 placements in the World Cup for the first time. Shortly after taking part in the 2003 World Cup , he achieved the first World Cup podium finish on February 23, 2003 as third in the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . The second followed almost a year later in the same place and in the same discipline.
Grünenfelder also came in third on December 29, 2005 in the downhill from Bormio , after falling a few meters from the finish but having passed the finish line correctly. During this incident, he tore his right knee ligament and had to take a break for several weeks. At the end of the season he won the first of a total of six Swiss championship titles. From the 2005/06 season onwards, Grünenfelder no longer played giant slaloms in the World Cup. Despite the specialization, several winters followed with average results.
In Vancouver in 2010 he achieved his best result at the Olympic Games, 9th place in the Super-G. Towards the end of the 2009/10 season, he achieved another third place in a World Cup race. On November 28, 2010, he won the Super-G of Lake Louise ; it should be his only World Cup victory. In the 2011/12 season he was only able to classify himself sporadically in the points, in the 2012/13 season he did not get past a 29th place. Due to a lack of success, he ended his sports career in March 2013.
Switzerland