Markus Wasmeier (; born 9 September 1963 is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Germany. He was world champion and twice Olympic champion. At the 1985 World Championships at

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, he won the

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 ...

at age 21, before recording a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

victory. Born in

Schliersee Schliersee is a small town (Markt) and a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is named after the nearby Lake Schliersee. It comprises the districts Schliersee (town), , , , Josefsthal and Spitzingsee. Among the poi ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, Wasmeier's first World Cup Race was on 5 February 1983, when he finished 49th in the Downhill Race at St. Anton am Arlberg. He gained his first World Cup points in January

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

by capturing 10th place in the Alpine Combined at

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, and that December, he achieved his first podium in (Giant Slalom at

Sestiere A (plural: ) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from (‘sixth’), so it is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example is the ''sestieri'' of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, M ...

). In a downhill race on February

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

at Furano,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he broke two vertebrae and missed the rest of the season. Wasmeier won a total of nine World Cup races, starting with two victories on 9 February

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, in the Combined and

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

events at

Morzine Morzine (; frp, Morzena) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. A traditional market town in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, Morzine is dominated by chalets spread across a rive ...

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 ...

. The surprising result of double Olympic gold for Wasmeier at age thirty gained him the title of 1994 "Sportsman of the Year" in Germany,

World Cup results

Season standings

Season titles

Individual races

9 wins (2 DH, 6 SG, 1 K)

World championship results

Olympic results

After racing

After retiring from competitive skiing, Wasmeier founded the farm and winter sport museum Bauernhof- und Wintersportmuseum Schliersee on 1 May 2007, and he has remained its curator and patron ever since. The museum provides insight into traditional Bavarian peasant life and aims to preserve old traditions by communicating them to coming generations. In 2009, Wasmeier shared his passion for building restoration and preserving tradition with an international group of young people through his involvement with the D&F Academy (now

The DO School The DO School is a global organization founded in 2014 with offices in Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, and Hamburg. The DO School supports businesses, entrepreneurs, and "young talents". The DO School has run programs in 27 countries for over 50,000 ...

). Wasmeier worked with an international group of young people to restore a 17th-century farmhouse in the German Alps utilizing original materials, traditional tools, wood-crafting and handicraft techniques. He remains involved with the DO School as an advisor and supporter. From 1993 to 1994, he was a commentator for the German Television Broadcaster ARD until 2007 and from 2008 until 2014. He is a consultant in the German Skiing Federation since 2000. Married since 1991, his wife Brigitte is a

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

ian.

References

External links

*
Markus Wasmeier
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasmeier, Markus 1963 births Living people People from Miesbach (district) Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria German male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of West Germany Olympic alpine skiers of Germany Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Germany