Werner Franz (born 8 March 1972) is a former

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 ...

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. Franz was born in Weissbriach and he could already be found in the mountains at the age of 2, learning his first skiing techniques.Portrait Werner Franz
ski2b.com He was coached by his father who was determined to make a professional skier out of his son. When Werner won an amateur race against young skiers of his own age he was complimented by his father who gave him newer and better skiing equipment as a present. The good performances in his younger years gave him self-confidence, which resulted in his goals to achieve. To reach these goals he had to train and concentrate hard on his sports career and succeeded. Werner Franz developed himself as a skier specialising in the speed disciplines of

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 Super G. Franz joined the Austrian national

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 ...

team in 1990. In the 1991-92 season he won his first race in the European Cup, which immediately secured him the overall win in the downhill European Cup rankings. Unless the win he was not able to win any of the following races, but during the World Cup meeting in

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

in the 1993-94 season he finished in second position. In the following year he repeated this achievement by finishing second at the race in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

. He also skied himself into several top 10 results. In the following years he was a constant factor in top 10 standings, but was unable to win any races. In 1995-96 he came second at the Austrian national Championships in downhill. Finally, during the 1999-2000 season Franz won his first World Cup race by finishing in front of all his opponents except

Fritz Strobl Fritz Strobl (born 24 August 1972 in Lienz, Austria) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer. Strobl was the gold medalist in the downhill at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, run on the Grizzly course at Snowbasin. In his f ...

in the Super G race in Sankt Anton; Strobl and Franz finished in exactly the same time and shared the victory. This result and a fourth place later in the same weekend earned him the fifth position in the overall Super G World Cup of that season. On 29 October 2001 his career was put on hold when he fell during a training run in

Sölden Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. With to ...

. A heavy knee injury kept him out for the whole 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Due to his recuperation program, hard training and mental strength he was able to fight himself back into the Austrian team for the 2003-04 season. Motivated he started the season after switching equipment sponsors. However he faced another injury in January 2004 during a training in

Bad Kleinkirchheim Bad Kleinkirchheim is a municipality and spa town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in Carinthia, Austria. Until the middle of the 20th century, agriculture was the dominant focus, but it is now a renowned spa and ski resort. Although recor ...

, which ended his season immediately. In the 2004-05 winter Franz made his comeback in the World Cup circuit and won his first World Cup points by finishing 22nd in Lake Louise. Later in the season, during the downhill of

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère'') is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) in southeastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise Nationa ...

he finished in first position and claimed his second career World Cup win. A fifth place in

and several other top 10 results during the season confirmed his comeback. He was however not able to win anymore races during that season and during the summer of 2005 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

he faced another long term injury which kept him aside for the whole 2005-06 season. On 14 December 2006, only a few races into the new season he announced his retirement from international races, just one day after

Andreas Schifferer Andreas "Andi" Schifferer (born 3 August 1974) is a former Austrian alpine skier who was known to be a downhill specialist, but also competed in other disciplines. Early life Schifferer was born in Radstadt, Salzburger Land in Au ...

did the same. He is the cousin of alpine skier

Max Franz Max Franz (born 1 September 1989) is an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, he focuses on the speed events of Downhill and Super-G. Career Franz made his World Cup debut in November 2009 at Lake Louise, Canada ...

Statistics

:Statistics updated until: 26 November 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franz, Werner Living people 1972 births Austrian male alpine skiers FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions