Rainer Schönfelder (born 13 June 1977) is an

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 ...

n former

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 skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

who won the 2003–2004 men's

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 ...

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 ...

title.

Career

Born in

Bleiburg Bleiburg ( sl, Pliberk) is a small town in the south Austrian state of Carinthia (''Koroška''), south-east of Klagenfurt, in the district of Völkermarkt, some four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the border with Slovenia. The municipality consists o ...

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

, Schönfelder made his debut in the 1995–1996 season, finishing 115th in the overall rankings. He quickly began to excel in the slalom events, and improved his position in the overall World Cup standing to 10th place by the 2003–2004 season. Apart from his slalom success in the 2003–2004 World Cup, his other achievements include 2 bronze medals (combined and slalom) 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 ...

Torino, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

and a 4th place in the combined event at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. On 27 March 2004, Schönfelder tested positive for the stimulant

Etilephrine Etilefrine is a cardiac stimulant used as an antihypotensive. It is a sympathomimetic amine of the 3-hydroxy-phenylethanolamine series used in treating orthostatic hypotension of neurological, cardiovascular, endocrine or metabolic origin. Intrav ...

at the Austrian slalom championships. However, he was not banned and continued competing in 2004–05, since it was found that he had taken the substance inadvertently while undergoing treatment of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. Rainer Schönfelder has also had some success as a

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

in Austria, especially with a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Wolfgang Ambros Wolfgang Ambros is an Austrian singer-songwriter. He is one of the most important contemporary Austrian musicians and is considered to be one of the founders of Austropop. Life 1952–1970 Wolfgang Ambros was born in the Semmelweiskli ...

' classic hit "Schifoan" (meaning "skiing"). Schönfelder made headlines on 10 January 2007 by skiing

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

after losing a bet with his

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

Trivia

Before the race in Chamonix Schönfelder slipped in the bathroom and got a contusion on his testicles.

World Cup results

Overall

Individual victories

Season standings

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonfelder, Rainer 1977 births Living people Austrian male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Austria Olympic alpine skiers for Austria Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Carinthia (state)