Frieda Dänzer (16 November 1930 – 21 January 2015) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

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 ...

, successful in the second half of the 1950s. At the 1956 Winter Olympics, she won silver in the downhill event. At

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau District, St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a hig ...

in 1958, she became world champion in

Alpine Combined Combined is an event in Alpine skiing, alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of Downhill (ski competition), downhill and two runs of Slalom skiing, slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the ...

and won the silver medal in downhill and bronze in giant slalom. She was born in

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administ ...

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

. Dänzer developed into one of Switzerland's most successful female skiers in the 1950s. The start of her sporting career, however, was fraught with a number of hurdles. In January 1950, she suffered a compound fracture of her right tibia and fibula in a fall that put her out of action for six months. After her recovery, Dänzer did manage to rejoin the Swiss national team. In 1954, however, she was not taken to the World Championships in

Åre Åre () is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the local eco ...

, although she had shortly before become Swiss champion in the downhill on the Lauberhorn in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

References

Frieda Dänzer's obituary

External links

* 1930 births 2015 deaths Swiss female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Switzerland Olympic silver medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics People from Frutigen-Niedersimmental District Sportspeople from the canton of Bern 20th-century Swiss women {{Switzerland-alpine-skiing-bio-stub