Annelise Coberger (born 16 September 1971) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

former

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. Born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, she became the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to win a medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

when she won silver in the slalom at

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. For this success, at the annual

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand former middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award ...

she was awarded the title of New Zealand Sportsman of the Year. Coberger also competed at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

but did not finish her first run of the slalom. Coberger remained the only Winter Olympic medalist from New Zealand for 26 years until

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Zoi Katherine Sadowski-Synnott (, born 6 March 2001) is a New Zealand Snowboarding, snowboarder, specialising in slopestyle and big air competitions. She won the gold medal in the Snowboarding at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's slopestyle, ...

won bronze in the women's big air at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

. Coberger won one World Cup slalom and reached seven other World Cup podiums. In the 1992–93 season, she was the runner-up in the Slalom World Cup with just 6 points behind the winner

Vreni Schneider Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll an ...

. Coberger finished competing at an international level a couple of years after her Olympic success (her last World Cup race was in March 1995). She then joined the

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

. She has two daughters, born in 2002 and 2004.

World Cup victories

References

*
dataOlympics profile
Accessed 17 June 2007.

Accessed 17 June 2007.
New Zealand Historic Places Trust - The Cobergers

External links

* * * * 1971 births Living people Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic alpine skiers of New Zealand New Zealand female alpine skiers Sportspeople from Christchurch Olympic medalists in alpine skiing New Zealand police officers Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Women police officers New Zealand people of German descent 20th-century New Zealand women {{NewZealand-alpine-skiing-bio-stub