Pamela Behr (born September 21, 1956 in

Hindelang Bad Hindelang is a municipality in the district of Oberallgäu in Bavaria in Germany. As of 2008 it has a population of 4,915. Its sulphur spring was used for cures in the 19th century and today the municipality is a major health resort. Geograp ...

, then

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 ...

) is a retired German alpine ski racer. She is the second youngest person ever to win an

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

race, winning a

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 ...

Val d'Isere Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

, France, in December 1972 at the age of 16 years, 79 days. It would be the only World Cup race win of her ten-year career. She won the silver medal in slalom at the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany, between 29 January and 5 February. It held competitions in alpine skiing like downhill, special slalom, giant slalom and combined. The combi ...

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 ...

Skiing career

Behr made her debut on the World Cup circuit at the age of 14 in the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

season and scored her first World Cup points the next year, with three top-ten results during the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

season. These included second place in a slalom in

Pra-Loup Pra-Loup is a ski resort in France, at Uvernet-Fours in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, from the town of Barcelonnette. Geography Ski area The ski station has two separate base areas, 2 km apart: * Pra-Loup 1600 - primary base area at above ...

, France, in March 1972 at the age of 15 years, 178 days, the youngest ever to finish on a World Cup podium (top three). She competed in three Winter Olympics, racing in all alpine skiing events during her Olympic debut in

at age 15, finishing 6th in slalom, 25th in giant slalom, and 36th in downhill. She would place 5th in slalom at the 1976 Olympics, but failed to finish the slalom in her final Olympics in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. Behr won the West German national championships a total of seven times between 1971 and 1979, six times in slalom and once in giant slalom.

World Cup podiums

World Championships medals

Personal life

Pamela Behr is the daughter of Sepp Behr, an alpine ski racer who also won seven West German national championships titles in slalom, giant slalom, and combined from 1954 to 1962. She is married to Christian Knauth, the marketing and communications director of the FIS (International Ski Federation).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behr, Pamela German female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of West Germany Alpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics 1956 births Living people People from Oberallgäu Sportspeople from Swabia (Bavaria) 20th-century German women