Pirmin Zurbriggen (born 4 February 1963) is a former

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 ...

alpine ski racer from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. One of the most successful ski racers ever, he won the overall World Cup title four times, an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

Downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

, and nine

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, ...

medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze).

Biography

Zurbriggen was born in

Saas-Almagell Saas-Almagell is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Saas-Almagell is first mentioned in 1291 as ''Armenzello''. In 1307 it was mentioned as ''Almenkel''. The settlement, at the upper end of ...

in the canton of

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

, the son of Alois, an

innkeeper Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accomm ...

, and Ida. His father competed as a ski racer in local competitions in the 1940s and 1950s, but quit the sport after his brother was killed in a training accident. Zurbriggen made his World Cup debut in January 1981, a month before his 18th birthday. With his victory in the downhill at Kitzbühel in January

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

at age 21, he became the first to win World Cup races in all five disciplines. (The fifth discipline, Super G, was added in December

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

.) Incidentally

Marc Girardelli Marc Girardelli (born 18 July 1963) is an Austrian and Luxembourgish former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines. Biography Born in Lustenau, Austria, Girardelli started skiing at ...

, the second to enter this exclusive circle, won his first downhill race four years later at the same venue. Zurbriggen retired from international competition after having won the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

World Cup overall title – his fourth, which was then the most overall titles won by a single racer, reached only once before by

Gustav Thöni Gustav Thöni (; sometimes listed as Gustavo Thoeni; born 28 February 1951) is an Italian retired alpine ski racer. Career Thöni was born in the German-speaking province of South Tyrol, in the hamlet of Trafoi of the Stilfs municipality, whi ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. Again it was Marc Girardelli who followed him in 1991 with a fourth overall title, and Girardelli added another in 1993 to become the only male racer with five overall titles in World Cup history. Zurbriggen grew up in the remote village of Saas-Almagell, near

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

. With a total of 40 World Cup victories over nine years and five gold medals, he belongs to the "All-Time Greats" of alpine skiing, ranking fifth in all-time wins and having 169 Top Ten finishes. Zurbriggen left the World Cup tour as a hero to start a family; he was married the previous summer (30 June 1989) to Monika Julen (the sister of his best friend on the Swiss ski team,

Max Julen Max Julen (born 15 March 1961) is a Swiss former alpine skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skii ...

), with whom he has five children:

Elia Elia is a name which may be a variant of the names Elias, Elijah, Eli or Eliahu, and may refer to: People * Aelia (gens) or Elia, a ''gens'' of Ancient Rome Mononymic * Elia or Elijah, a biblical prophet * Elia, a pen-name of Charles Lamb First ...

, Pirmin Jr., Maria, Alain and Leonie, who have all competed in ski racing. He is the older brother of

Heidi Zurbriggen Heidi Andenmatten-Zurbriggen (born 16 March 1967) in Saas-Almagell, Kanton Wallis) is a Swiss former alpine skier. She is the sister of Pirmin Zurbriggen, an aunt of Elia Zurbriggen and cousin of Silvan Zurbriggen. She won 3 Downhill race ...

, a winner of three World Cup downhill races, and a distant cousin of

Silvan Zurbriggen Silvan Zurbriggen (born 15 August 1981) is a retired Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer who competed primarily in downhill and combined, and occasionally in super-G. In 2012, he stopped competing in slalom due to poor results. Born in Brig, V ...

. Zurbriggen now runs the "Wellness Hotel Pirmin Zurbriggen" with his parents in Saas-Almagell and another, "Apparthotel Zurbriggen," in

Zermatt Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO). ...

. In addition, after his World Cup career had ended he partnered with Authier Ski company on a line of signature skis.

World Cup results

Season standings

Season titles

*11 titles (4 overall, 2 DH, 4 SG, 1 GS) plus ''unofficial'' 3 K

Race victories

*40 wins (10 DH, 10 SG, 7 GS, 11 SC, 2 SL) *83 podiums (40 wins, 26 second place, 17 third place)

World championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

*
Pirmin Zurbriggen
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zurbriggen, Pirmin 1963 births Living people People from Visp (district) Swiss male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Switzerland Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Recipients of the Olympic Order Sportspeople from Valais