Maria Höfl-Riesch (; née Riesch, born 24 November 1984) is a German former alpine ski racer. She is a three-time

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

, two-time

World champion 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 ...

, an overall World Cup champion and five-time World junior champion. Höfl-Riesch made her World Cup debut in February 2001 and won gold medals in slalom and

super combined Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom; each discipline takes place on a s ...

at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. She won the

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 ...

overall title in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, she defended her

title to win her third Olympic gold medal, and also won a silver medal in the

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 ...

Career

Born 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 ...

, Höfl-Riesch was a prodigious talent as a junior and won seven medals in all of the disciplines at four Junior World Championships, including three gold medals in combined and super-G. As the racing careers of Martina Ertl-Renz and

Hilde Gerg Mathilde Gerg (born 19 October 1975) is a German former alpine skier. She was an Olympic and World champion. Career She was Olympic Champion in the slalom at the 1998 Winter Olympics, an astounding win as most of her career she was known as pred ...

concluded, Höfl-Riesch rose as the leading female racer on the German national team. Injuries cut short her seasons 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 ...

and

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 ...

, causing her to miss the 2005 World Championships and the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

. During the

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 ...

season, Höfl-Riesch won four slalom events on the World Cup tour and won the gold medal in the slalom at the

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 ...

. Prior to 2009, her most successful season was in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, when she finished third in the overall World Cup standings, with three race victories. She also finished third in the overall standings in

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 ...

. In the

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 ...

season she won her second downhill race, at Lake Louise, Canada. Riesch won two gold medals at the

, in the

and slalom. After finishing second in the overall World Cup standings in

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 ...

, Riesch built a big lead early in the

season which was enough to win the overall title, besting three-time defending champion

Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She won four World Cup overall championships – third amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mika ...

of the U.S. by just three points. At the World Cup finals in

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. Th ...

, Vonn took the overall lead after the downhill, then Riesch reclaimed it after the slalom; the super-G and giant slalom races were cancelled due to poor conditions. She retired after the

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 ...

season after crashing in the downhill World Cup Final.

Personal

Höfl-Riesch is also a nationally ranked tennis player and a cyclist. Her younger sister, Susanne Riesch, is also a former World Cup ski racer, specializing in the slalom. Her uncle,

Wolfgang Zimmerer Wolfgang Zimmerer (born 15 November 1940) is a retired West-German bobsledder who mostly competed as a driver together with his brakeman Peter Utzschneider. Zimmerer took part in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Winter Olympics and won four medals, with ...

was a

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobs ...

der during the 1960s and 1970s and competed for

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in the Winter Olympics, winning gold with

Peter Utzschneider Peter Utzschneider (born 6 March 1946) is a retired West Germany, West German bobsledder who mostly competed as a brakeman together with Wolfgang Zimmerer. They competed at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Winter Olympics and won three medals, with one ...

at the Two-man bobsleigh during the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside ...

. She has been a chief constable in the

Bundeszollverwaltung The Bundeszollverwaltung (Federal Customs Administration or Federal Customs Service) is the customs, customs administration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is also the executive and fiscal administrative unit of the federal government and p ...

(German Federal Customs Service) during her sports career. One of her closest friends (and major rival) on the World Cup tour was

of the United States. Höfl-Riesch married her manager Marcus Höfl on 14 April 2011. At a height of , she was one of the tallest women on the World Cup circuit.

World Cup results

Season titles

* 6 titles – (1 overall, 1 downhill, 1

, 2 slalom, 1 combined)

Season standings

Source:

Race victories

* 27 wins – (11 DH, 3 SG, 9 SL, 4 SC) + 1 NTE

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

* *
Photo report: Celebrating Maria Riesch
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofl-Riesch, Maria 1984 births German female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Germany Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Skiers from Garmisch-Partenkirchen Living people 21st-century German sportswomen