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Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after
Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team. She won four World Cup overall championships — second only amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll — with three ...
,
Annemarie Moser-Pröll Annemarie Moser-Pröll (born 27 March 1953) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Born in Kleinarl, Salzburg, she was the most successful female alpine ski racer during the 1970s, with six overall titles, including five consecu ...
and
Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin (born March 13, 1995) is an American two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and World Cup alpine skier. She is a four-time Overall World Cup champion, a four-time world champion in slalom, and a six-time winner of the World Cu ...
) and was voted "Swiss Sportswoman of the Century".


Early life

Schneider was born in
Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of ...
, the daughter of a shoemaker. Her mother died of cancer when Schneider was a teenager: as a result she put her ski career on hold and dropped out of school to look after the family home.


Racing career

Schneider made her World Cup debut at the age of 20. Schneider won the overall
alpine skiing 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 ( ...
three times and eleven discipline World Cups in Slalom 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 ...
, along with 55 World Cup races (number four all-time among women to Moser-Pröll, Vonn and Shiffrin). She also won five medals at the
Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...
including 3 golds (Slalom and Giant Slalom at
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
in 1988 and Slalom at
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
in 1994), and six medals at the World Championships including 3 more golds (Giant Slalom at
Crans-Montana Crans-Montana is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Montana and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana. ...
in 1987 and Vail in 1989; Slalom at Saalbach in 1991). During the 1988–89 season she won 14 World Cup races, a record for single season wins that stood until Shiffrin beat that record in the 2018–19 season. In April 1995, after eleven successful seasons, she announced her retirement. Today she runs a ski and snowboard school in her home village of
Elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of ...
as well as a sport equipment shop in
Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glaru ...
. Vreni Schneider is praised in the
Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil ...
song 'Uffington Wassail' thus: "Vreni Schneider – you’re my downhill lady! Vreni Schneider – you’re the queen of the slopes!" The song is on the album ''
Trouble Over Bridgwater Trouble may refer to: Film and television * ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * ''Trouble'' (1977 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Trouble'' ...
'' from the year 2000.


World Cup results


Season titles

*14 titles – (3 overall, 6 Slalom, 5
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 ...
)


Season standings


Race victories


World Championship results


Olympic results


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Vreni 1964 births Living people Swiss female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic silver medalists for Switzerland Olympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Olympic alpine skiers of Switzerland Olympic medalists in alpine skiing FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics People from the canton of Glarus 20th-century Swiss women