Vreni Schneider

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vreni Schneider Alpine skiing
Full name Verena Schneider
nation SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
birthday 26th November 1964 (age 55)
place of birth Elm , Switzerland
Career
discipline Downhill , Super-G , giant slalom ,
slalom , combination
society SC Elm
status resigned
End of career March 26, 1995
Medal table
Olympic games 3 × gold 1 × silver 1 × bronze
World championships 3 × gold 2 × silver 1 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold Calgary 1988 Giant slalom
gold Calgary 1988 slalom
gold Lillehammer 1994 slalom
silver Lillehammer 1994 combination
bronze Lillehammer 1994 Giant slalom
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
gold Crans-Montana 1987 Giant slalom
gold Vail 1989 Giant slalom
silver Vail 1989 slalom
silver Vail 1989 combination
gold Saalbach 1991 slalom
bronze Saalbach 1991 combination
Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup
 Individual World Cup debut 4th December 1983
 Individual world cup victories 55
 Overall World Cup 1. ( 1988/89 , 1993/94 , 1994/95 )
 Downhill World Cup 14. ( 1986/87 )
 Super G World Cup 6. (1986/87)
 Giant Slalom World Cup 1. ( 1985/86 , 1986/87, 1988/89,
1990/91, 1994/95)
 Slalom World Cup 1. (1988/89, 1989/90 , 1991/92 ,
1992/93 , 1993/94, 1994/95)
 Combination World Cup 2. (1986/87, 1994/95)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Departure 0 0 1
 Super G 0 0 2
 Giant slalom 20th 14th 12
 slalom 34 10 3
 combination 1 4th 0
 

Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born November 26, 1964 in Elm ) is a former Swiss ski racer . She is one of the most successful female ski racers in history and dominated racing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The giant slalom and slalom specialist was three times overall winner of the Alpine Ski World Cup and eleven times winner of a World Cup discipline. She won 55 world cup races (which puts her in fourth place behind Lindsey Vonn , Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin ), five medals at Olympic Games (three of which are gold) and six medals at world championships (also three gold). During her eleven-year World Cup career, Schneider was able to achieve at least one podium in all five disciplines. In the 1988/89 season she won 14 world cup races; Mikaela Shiffrin beat this record in the 2018/19 season. She holds the best marks of 20 World Cup race wins and five discipline ratings in giant slalom, as well as six discipline ratings in slalom - like Shiffrin - her record of 34 race wins in slalom was surpassed in 2013 by Marlies Schild .

Career

Until 1988

Schneider learned to ski at the age of four. Her extraordinary talent soon became apparent, as she dominated the school races, sometimes clearly, and also left older participants behind. The daughter of a shoemaker was as a 16-year-old after her mother's death orphan . As a result, she had to help raise her three younger siblings and run the household for a few years.

Schneider had her World Cup premiere on December 4, 1983 in Val-d'Isère , where she finished the giant slalom in 28th place (according to the FIS point system at the time , she did not receive any World Cup points for this). A little more than a year later, on December 14, 1984, she finished ninth in the Madonna di Campiglio slalom and thus scored her first points. Just three days later, she celebrated her first World Cup victory at the giant slalom in Santa Caterina with start number 28. Schneider became one of the favorites at the 1985 World Championships in Bormio , but did not get past twelfth place.

Schneider started the 1985/86 season with a victory in the giant slalom on November 26, 1985 in Sestriere on the occasion of the World Series of Skiing, which is only part of the Nations Cup . Then she was the best giant slalom rider with three World Cup victories and won the discipline ranking for the first time. In addition, there were the first podium places in slalom (3rd place on January 12, 1986 in Badgastein) and in Super-G (3rd place on January 17, 1986 in Puy St. Vicent). The 1986/87 season saw her first victory in a slalom, which over the years should develop into her favorite discipline. She had to share the renewed win of the giant slalom discipline with Maria Walliser with the same number of points (the last race of the season in Sarajevo hadn't brought a decision either, as they both won the race together). At the 1987 World Championships in Crans-Montana , Schneider won the gold medal in the giant slalom after finishing fourth in the combined and super-G.

The 1987/88 season was also successful with two World Cup victories. The highlight was the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . On the slopes of Nakiska , Schneider won the gold medal by a large margin in both giant slalom and slalom. After a serious fall in Aspen in early March, she had to end the season prematurely and could no longer intervene in the decision about the World Cup rankings. For the first time she was voted Swiss Sportswoman of the Year .

From 1989

The following World Cup season in 1988/89 was by far the most successful for Schneider. She won all seven slaloms and six of seven giant slaloms; in addition, there was her only victory in a World Cup combination. Schneider surpassed Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark's previous record from the 1979/80 season when he had 13 wins. She also remained unbeaten for eleven races in a row. She won the overall World Cup standings with superiority. The only defeat this season in slalom she had to accept at the World Championships in Vail in 1989 , when she was second behind Mateja Svet ; she was known for still driving to victory from the back positions, but on February 11, 1989 she was only 8th on the "Piste International" after the first run, so that the race to catch up didn't quite work out. Four days later she returned the favor with the second giant slalom world championship title.

Five slalom victories ensured Schneider again a clear win in the discipline classification in the 1989/90 World Cup season. In the giant slalom, her former parade discipline, she went without a win for the first time since 1983. She ended the 1990/91 World Cup season with two giant slalom and one slalom victories. At the 1991 World Cup , she won the gold medal in slalom and the bronze medal in combination. Before the 1992 Winter Olympics , Schneider was one of the favorites again due to several World Cup victories. But the Olympic races in Méribel ended in disappointment: she was eliminated in the giant slalom and only finished seventh in the slalom. The 1992/93 World Cup season was very inconsistent due to severe back pain. In the less physically demanding slalom races, Schneider was again the best athlete, but in the giant slalom, however, hardly any outstanding results were achieved. The 1993 World Cup also ended disappointingly with two failures .

In the 1993/94 season Schneider returned to the superiority of earlier years. In the giant slalom she did not succeed in winning, but in the slalom she won seven out of ten races and came second twice. Since she was increasingly involved in downhill runs and achieved very good results (she achieved the only downhill podium of her career this winter), she was able to win the overall World Cup for the second time. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer , she won three medals: gold in slalom, silver in combination and bronze in giant slalom.

In 1994 Schneider had indicated the possibility of resignation in the media for the first time, but she decided to add another season. In the 1994/95 World Cup season she once again proved to be the world's best female skier. In addition to four slalom victories, she also achieved five podium places in the giant slalom, which meant that she won both disciplines. The decision about the overall World Cup was made in the last race of the season, when Schneider won the slalom in Bormio (her 55th and last World Cup victory) and in the end was only six points ahead of the German Katja Seizinger . After Schneider had already indicated her resignation at the end of the season in January, she officially announced it on April 19, 1995 in Regensdorf. In 1994 and 1995 she was awarded the Skieur d'Or by the International Association of Ski Journalists (AIJS) .

Private

Vreni Schneider now looks after a ski and snowboard school named after her in her home town of Elm. She also owns a sports shop in Elm and Glarus . She has been married to Marcel Fässler since 1999 and is the mother of two sons. Schneider is an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right To Play and also supports World Vision Switzerland . In 2012 she released her folk music CD A Gruass Us De Bärge .

successes

Olympic games

World championships

World Cup ratings

Vreni Schneider has won the overall World Cup three times (1989, 1994, 1995), plus eleven other 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
1984/85 9. 112 - - - - 3. 88 22nd 19th 17th 9
1985/86 3. 216 - - 14th 20th 1. 110 7th 51 5. 35
1986/87 2. 262 14th 23 6th 44 1. 120 4th 84 2. 20th
1987/88 5. 185 - - 22nd 9 3. 76 2. 80 5. 20th
1988/89 1. 376 - - 17th 11 1. 165 1. 175 3. 25th
1989/90 6th 198 - - 25th 4th 5. 69 1. 125 - -
1990/91 3. 185 - - - - 1. 113 5. 72 - -
1991/92 4th 902 - - - - 2. 391 1. 511 - -
1992/93 6th 626 - - - - 12. 136 1. 490 - -
1993/94 1. 1656 15th 112 19th 88 2. 516 1. 860 5. 80
1994/95 1. 1248 23. 84 25th 74 1. 450 1. 560 2. 80

Victories in world cup races

Vreni Scheider has won 55 world cup races (20 giant slalom, 34 slalom, 1 combination). There are also 28 second places and 18 third places.

slalom

date place country
17th December 1986 Courmayeur Italy
February 14, 1987 Saint-Gervais-les-Bains France
January 24, 1988 Bad Gastein Austria
December 16, 1988 Altenmarkt im Pongau Austria
December 20, 1988 Courmayeur Italy
January 3, 1989 Maribor Yugoslavia
January 8, 1989 Mellau Austria
January 15, 1989 Grindelwald Switzerland
March 3, 1989 Furano Japan
March 10, 1989 Shigakogen Japan
November 25, 1989 Park City United States
January 6, 1990 Piancavallo Italy
January 9, 1990 Hinterstoder Austria
January 21, 1990 Maribor Yugoslavia
March 18, 1990 Are Sweden
March 11, 1991 Lake Louise Canada
November 30, 1991 Lech Austria
January 18, 1992 Maribor Slovenia
February 29, 1992 Narvik Norway
January 6, 1993 Maribor Slovenia
17th January 1993 Cortina d'Ampezzo Italy
March 19, 1993 Vemdalen Sweden
March 28, 1993 Are Sweden
November 28, 1993 Santa Caterina Italy
December 19, 1993 St. Anton am Arlberg Austria
January 9, 1994 Altenmarkt im Pongau Austria
January 23, 1994 Maribor Slovenia
5th February 1994 Sierra Nevada Spain
March 10, 1994 Mammoth Mountain United States
March 20, 1994 Vail United States
November 27, 1994 Park City United States
December 18, 1994 Sestriere Italy
February 26, 1995 Maribor Slovenia
March 19, 1995 Bormio Italy

Giant slalom

date place country
17th December 1984 Santa Caterina Italy
March 17, 1985 Waterville Valley United States
January 6, 1986 Maribor Yugoslavia
January 19, 1986 Oberstaufen Germany
March 20, 1986 Waterville Valley United States
December 6, 1986 Waterville Valley United States
5th January 1987 Saalbach-Hinterglemm Austria
February 13, 1987 Megève France
March 22, 1987 Sarajevo Yugoslavia
5th January 1988 Tignes France
November 28, 1988 Les Menuires France
December 18, 1988 Valzoldana Italy
January 6, 1989 Schwarzenberg Austria
January 7, 1989 Schwarzenberg Austria
January 21, 1989 Tignes France
March 8, 1989 Shigakogen Japan
January 11, 1991 Kranjska Gora Yugoslavia
March 17, 1991 Vail United States
December 8, 1991 Santa Caterina Italy
5th January 1992 Oberstaufen Germany

combination

date place country
December 16, 1988 Altenmarkt im Pongau Austria

More Achievements

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Vreni Schneider  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Swiss double victory. Arbeiter-Zeitung , November 27, 1985, accessed March 17, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Thomas Knellwolf: In the beginning there was fire. Die Weltwoche , April 2005, accessed on March 16, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Isabelle Mathys, Yasmin Merkel: Vreni Schneider continues to sing: Now comes CD number 2. In: srf.ch from November 19, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Schneider, Vreni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schneider, Verena
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ski racer
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Elm GL