Heinrich "Heini" Messner (born 1 September 1939) is a retired

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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 ...

. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won two bronze medals: in the giant slalom in 1968 and in the downhill in 1972.

Career

On 5 January 1967 Messner won the first ever World Cup race, a slalom; he had 15 more World Cup podium finishes later in his career. In the 1970s he pioneered the use of short skis in the technical races. Messner retired in 1972 season and for two years trained the Austrian women’s team. He then moved to

Steinach am Brenner Steinach am Brenner is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located south of Innsbruck in the Wipptal at the Sill River. Geography Steinach am Brenner is located in Wipptal, along the Sill River Valley at ...

where he ran a ski school, a boarding house, and a ski rental service.

National titles

Messner has won five national championships at individual

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. * Austria Alpine Ski Championships **Downhill_ 1961 **Giant slalom: 1967 **Slalom: 1964, 1965, 1967

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Messner, Heinrich 1939 births Living people Olympic alpine skiers of Austria Austrian male alpine skiers Olympic bronze medalists for Austria Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1968 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics 20th-century Austrian people 21st-century Austrian people