Maria Höfl-Riesch
Riesch in 2009
Personal information
Born (1984-11-24) 24 November 1984
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany
OccupationAlpine skier
Height182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, slalom, combined, giant slalom
ClubSC Partenkirchen
World Cup debut16 February 2001  (age 16)
Retired20 March 2014  (age 29)
Websitemaria.com.de
Olympics
Teams2 – (2010, 2014)
Medals4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams5 – (2003, 2007–13)
Medals6 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons13 – (2002–2014)
Wins27
Podiums81
Overall titles1 – (2011)
Discipline titles5 – (1 DH, 1 SG, 2 SL, 1 SC)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Germany
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 9 9 7
Giant slalom 0 2 2
Downhill 11 5 10
Super-G 3 8 5
Combined 4 3 3
Total 27 27 27
International competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 0
World Championships 2 0 4
World Junior Championships 5 2 2
Total 10 3 6
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2010 VancouverCombined
Gold medal – first place2010 VancouverSlalom
Gold medal – first place2014 SochiCombined
Silver medal – second place2014 SochiSuper-G
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 Val d'IsèreSlalom
Gold medal – first place2013 SchladmingCombined
Bronze medal – third place2011 GarmischSuper-G
Bronze medal – third place2011 GarmischDownhill
Bronze medal – third place2013 SchladmingDownhill
Bronze medal – third place2013 SchladmingTeam event
Junior World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place2001 VerbierCombined
Gold medal – first place2002 TarvisioSuper-G
Gold medal – first place2003 BriançonnaisCombined
Gold medal – first place2004 MariborDownhill
Gold medal – first place2004 MariborGiant slalom
Silver medal – second place2001 VerbierSuper-G
Silver medal – second place2002 TarvisioSlalom
Bronze medal – third place2001 VerbierDownhill
Bronze medal – third place2003 BriançonnaisGiant slalom
Riesch in January 2011

Maria Höfl-Riesch (German pronunciation: [maˈʁiːa ˌhøːfl̩ ˈʁiːʃ] ⓘ; née Riesch, born 24 November 1984) is a former German alpine ski racer. She is a three-time Olympic champion, two-time World champion, 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 at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She won the World Cup overall title in 2011.[1] At the 2014 Winter Olympics, she defended her super combined title to win her third Olympic gold medal, and also won a silver medal in the super-G.

Career

Born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,[2] 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.[3]

As the racing careers of Martina Ertl-Renz and Hilde Gerg concluded, Höfl-Riesch rose as the leading female racer on the German national team. Injuries cut short her seasons in 2005 and 2006, causing her to miss the 2005 World Championships and the 2006 Winter Olympics.

During the 2009 season, Höfl-Riesch won four slalom events on the World Cup tour and won the gold medal in the slalom at the World Championships. Prior to 2009, her most successful season was in 2004, when she finished third in the overall World Cup standings, with three race victories. She also finished third in the overall standings in 2008. In the 2007 season she won her second downhill race, at Lake Louise, Canada.

Riesch won two gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics, in the super combined and slalom. After finishing second in the overall World Cup standings in 2009 and 2010, Riesch built a big lead early in the 2011 season which was enough to win the overall title, besting three-time defending champion Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. by just three points. At the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Vonn took the overall lead after the downhill, then Riesch reclaimed it after the slalom;[4] the super-G and giant slalom races were cancelled due to poor conditions.[1] She retired after the 2014 season after crashing in the downhill World Cup Final.[5]

Personal

Höfl-Riesch is also a nationally ranked tennis player and a cyclist.[6] Her younger sister, Susanne Riesch, is also a former World Cup ski racer, specializing in the slalom.[7] Her uncle, Wolfgang Zimmerer was a bobsledder during the 1960s and 1970s and competed for West Germany in the Winter Olympics, winning gold with Peter Utzschneider at the Two-man bobsleigh during the 1972 Winter Olympics.[8] She has been a chief constable in the Bundeszollverwaltung (German Federal Customs Service) during her sports career.

One of her closest friends (and major rival) on the World Cup tour was Lindsey Vonn of the United States.

Höfl-Riesch married her manager Marcus Höfl on 14 April 2011.[9]

At a height of 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in), she was one of the tallest women on the World Cup circuit.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season Discipline
2008Super-G
Combined
2009Slalom
2010Slalom
2011Overall
2014Downhill

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200116109––42——
200217964650———
20031832404237143
200419391857—
2005204344322627—
20062169–493544—
20072214252218736
2008233825191
20092421151034
201025218925
201126138223
2012273716644
201328296539
2014292514513

Source:[10]

Race victories

  • 27 wins – (11 DH, 3 SG, 9 SL, 4 SC) + 1 NTE
Season Date Location Discipline
2004
3 victories
(1 DH, 1 SG, 1 SL)		30 Jan 2004Austria Haus im Ennstal, AustriaDownhill
1 Feb 2004Super-G
29 Feb 2004Finland Levi, FinlandSlalom
20071 Dec 2006Canada Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
2008
(1 SG, 1 SC)		21 Jan 2008Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalySuper-G
24 Feb 2008Canada Whistler, CanadaSuper combined
2009
5 victories
(4 SL, 1 SC)		14 Dec 2008Spain La Molina, SpainSlalom
29 Dec 2008Austria Semmering, AustriaSlalom
4 Jan 2009Croatia Zagreb, CroatiaSlalom
11 Jan 2009Slovenia Maribor, SloveniaSlalom
20 Feb 2009Italy Tarvisio, ItalySuper combined
2010
3 victories
(1 SL, 2 DH)		14 Nov 2009Finland Levi, FinlandSlalom
30 Jan 2010 Switzerland  St. Moritz, SwitzerlandDownhill
10 Mar 2010Germany Garmisch, GermanyDownhill
2011
7 victories
(3 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC,
1 SG, 1 NTE)		3 Dec 2010Canada Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
4 Dec 2010Downhill
11 Jan 2011Austria Flachau, AustriaSlalom
22 Jan 2011Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalyDownhill
25 Feb 2011Sweden Åre, SwedenSuper combined
27 Feb 2011Super-G
20 Mar 2011 Switzerland  Lenzerheide, SwitzerlandTeam event
2012
3 victories
(1 DH, 1 SL, 1 SC)		29 Jan 2012 Switzerland  St. Moritz, SwitzerlandSuper combined
18 Feb 2012Russia Sochi, RussiaDownhill
10 Mar 2012Sweden Åre, SwedenSlalom
201310 Nov 2012Finland Levi, FinlandSlalom
2014
3 victories
(3 DH)		6 Dec 2013Canada Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill
7 Dec 2013Downhill
24 Jan 2014Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalyDownhill

World Championship results

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200318DNF1DNF1DNF175
200520injured, did not compete
200722—231097
2009241288104
2011264DNF23311
201328DNF29DNF31

Olympic results

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200621injured, did not compete
201025110881
2014294DNS12131

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Cancellation gives Riesch overall crown". Ski Racing.com. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Harry, Nutt (14 February 2009). "Kratzer am Kinn". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Alpine Ski". Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Maze edges Schild for her first World Cup slalom win; Riesch takes slim lead in overall". Ski Racing.com. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Maria Hoefl-Riesch has no second thoughts about retirement". NBC Sports. August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Riesch wins gold". Deutsche Welle. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Susanne Riesch beendet ihre Karriere" [Susanne Riesch has ended her career]. WirtschaftsBlatt (in German). 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Wolfgang Zimmerer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Nun startet sie als Höfl-Riesch". faz.net (in German). 14 April 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  10. ↑ "Maria Joefl-Riesch". FIS. World Cup season standings. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
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