Benjamin Raich (born 28 February 1978 in Arzl im Pitztal,

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

) is an Austrian 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 name is ...

champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories (in all disciplines except downhill), one first place and five second places in the World Cup overall ranking, three victories of the slalom World Cup, three victories of the combined World Cup, two victories of the giant slalom World Cup and the highest score of career World Cup points (ahead of Norwegian

Kjetil André Aamodt Kjetil André Aamodt (born 2 September 1971) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway, a champion in the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup. He is one of the most successful alpine ski racers from Norway. Biography Born ...

), he is considered among the best alpine racers in World Cup history.

Career

After winning Junior World Championships in both slalom and giant slalom, Raich made his World Cup debut in March

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He scored his first victory in 1999, in slalom. In 2001 he won the silver medal in slalom at the World Championships, and at the end of the season he won the slalom World Cup. In 2002 he won two bronze medals at the Salt Lake City Olympics. Raich, who became better at faster specialities such as

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

and downhill with age also, in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

barely missed out on the overall World Cup title, placing second to American

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is an Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and List of Alpine Skiing world champions, World Championship gold me ...

. At the 2005 World Championships he won a total of five medals, one for each race except for the downhill. He won the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

World Cup overall title in the most successful season of his career, as well as Olympic gold medals in slalom and giant slalom at the Turin Olympics. Throughout his career Raich has been known for his consistency which led to him to second places in the overall world cup in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

(narrowly missing out the titles in both

and

by 13 points and 2 points respectively, both times behind Svindal). His last World Cup race victory came in February

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

in Swiss Crans Montana, where he won his first and only World Cup victory in super-G. In March

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, he reached the podium for the first time in more than two years by finishing second (after Ted Ligety) in a giant slalom race in

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; ) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italy, Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. The tripoint between Austria, It ...

, the same place where he also won his first top-3 result more than 15 years earlier (in January 1999). His last top three finish came in early March 2015 in a giant slalom race in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

that came to be one of his final races in the alpine world cup. On September 10, 2015, he announced his retirement.

World Cup results

Season standings

Season titles

9 titles: 1 overall, 2 giant slalom, 3 slalom, 3 combined

Individual races

36 total: 14 slalom, 14

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

, 1

, 7 combined

World Championship results

Olympic results

Personal

His sister Carina Raich also is a ski racer. Benjamin Raich is married to skier

Marlies Schild Marlies Raich (née Schild, born 31 May 1981) is a retired Austrian FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She specializes in the technical disciplines of Slalom skiing, slalom and giant slalom. Schild won four Alpi ...

. They have three children together.

External links

*
Benjamin Raich
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * *
Atomic Skis
– athletes – Benjamin Raich {{DEFAULTSORT:Raich, Benjamin 1978 births Austrian male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Austria Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Olympic gold medalists for Austria Olympic bronze medalists for Austria FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions People from Imst District Skiers from Tyrol (federal state) Living people