María José Rienda Contreras (born 29 June 1975) is a 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 ...

alpine ski racer. She served as the President of the Consejo Superior de Deportes and Secretary of State for Sports of Spain from June 2018 to January 2020.

Biography

Rienda Contreras has 6

victories, all in giant slalom. Her victories in 2005 were the first Spanish World Cup victories since Blanca Fernández Ochoa won in December

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. María José Rienda Contreras represented

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in five

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held i ...

. Her interest for this sport began when her father began to work on the Station of

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

already at the age of nine she was possessing her first pair of skis. After some national success, she joined the Spanish national team at age 14. On 25 October 2003 Rienda Contreras scored her first World Cup podium, by coming third in the giant slalom 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. Wit ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She scored two more podiums that season and finished third in the giant slalom World Cup that season. The following season, 2004–2005, began with a new podium, repeating the third position of the previous year in Sölden. Later she scored another third position, now in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. On 20 February 2005 Maria Jose Rienda Contreras scored her first World Cup win, in the giant slalom in

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

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. Later she scored another victory, this time in the giant slalom 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 ...

, Switzerland. Also this season she finished third in the giant slalom World Cup standings. After retiring from competition, she became involved in sport management. In June 2018 she was appointed Secretary of State for Sports by the

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

World Cup victories

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rienda Contreras, Maria Jose Spanish female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Spain 1975 births Living people