Michaela Kirchgasser (born 18 March 1985) is a retired Austrian alpine ski racer. She raced in the technical events of

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

, and also the combined.

Career

On 25 November 2006, Kirchgasser made her first World Cup podium with a third place in the giant slalom at

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Her first victory was on 24 February 2007, in a giant slalom at

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

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. She has competed in three

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and six

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. At the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

, she finished fifth in the slalom and sixth in the combined, but failed to finish in the giant slalom. At the 2007 World Championships she won the gold medal with the Austrian team in the team event, and finished fourth in the giant slalom and ninth in the slalom. She took a total of seven World Championship medals during her career. Kirchgasser attained her first World Cup podium in slalom in January

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

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. Less than three weeks later, she won her first World Cup slalom at

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; german: Kronau) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. Name Kranjska Gora was f ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Kirchgasser won again in the slalom at the World Cup finals in

Schladming Schladming is a small former mining town in the northwest of the Austrian state of Styria that is now a popular tourist destination. It has become a large winter-sports resort and has held various skiing competitions, including most notably the ...

to finish second in the slalom season standings, runner-up to compatriot

Marlies Schild Marlies Raich (née Schild, born 31 May 1981) is a retired Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. She specializes in the technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom. Schild won four Olympic medals, with silvers in the combined (2006) and ...

. She retired from competition in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, with her final World Cup start being in a slalom in Ofterschwang, which she raced whilst wearing a bright pink dress. Michaela Kirchgasser married Sebastian Kirchgasser on 7 May 2016 - despite having the same last name they are not related.Michi Kirchgasser said yes!
– "You'll notice it by my new last name," the 31-year-old joked about her marriage - 8 May 2016.

World Cup results

Season standings

*Standings through 4 February 2018

Race podiums

* 3 wins – (1 GS, 2 SL) * 17 podiums – (5 GS, 3 SL, 7 AC, 2 PSL)

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

*
Michaela Kirchgasser
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * * '
Michaela Kirchgasser
at Austrian Ski team (ÖSV) '
Michaela Kirchgasser
at

Atomic Skis Atomic (officially Atomic Austria GmbH) is an Austrian company that manufactures and sells skis and other skiing equipment, such as boots, bindings, helmets, ski poles, goggles, bags, apparel and protective equipment. Atomic is a subsidiary of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchgasser, Michaela 1985 births Austrian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of Austria People from St. Johann im Pongau District Living people Sportspeople from Salzburg (state) 21st-century Austrian women