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Michela Figini (57)
The Ticino native was not even an adult when she sensationally won Olympic gold in the downhill in Sarajevo in 1984. Shortly before her 19th birthday, the wonder girl from Leventina in Bormio (It) also became world champion in the highest discipline. And at the age of 22, “Michi” achieved his second overall World Cup victory in 1988.
Three months before Figini’s 24th birthday, this success story comes to an end in a more unexpected way. Because her soldier and the new head coach Jan Tischhauser got into an argument about a commitment board, Figini gave the association management an ultimatum: “Either you separate from Tischhauser, or I resign.” Because the Zurich Oberlander and his team won two-thirds of all World Cup matches in the winter of 1989/90, the association management stuck with him. Figini makes good on her threat and turns her back on racing. She is now a mother of two children and occasionally works as a ski expert for the Ticino television RSI.
Petra Kronberger (54)
The Salzburg woman was the untouchable ski queen between December 1989 and March 1992! Kronberger won the overall World Cup three times in a row, fourth gold in the downhill at the World Championships in Saalbach and achieved the Olympic victories in the slalom and combined in Albertville. Because the gifted all-rounder is currently only 23 years old, Austrian media people in particular assume that her Petra will also hit hard at the 93 World Cup in Morioka, Japan.
But after a mediocre start to the season, Kronberger invited Hans Adrowitzer, sports director of the “Salzburger Nachrichten”, for dinner on December 26. At 10:10 p.m. she asks Adrowitzer: “Hans, what would you say if I resigned?” The journalist initially reacts very coldly: “Petra, that makes perfect sense: at some point you will actually resign.” But Kronberger’s postscript almost knocks Adrowitzer off his chair: “I won’t resign at some point, but now!” Kronberger justifies her decision with these words: “I can no longer deal with the expectations of always having to be the best.” Since 2015, Kronberger, who now works as an art guide in Salzburg for a salary of 1,500 euros, has worked as a women’s representative for the Austrian Ski Association.
Hansi Hinterseer (69)
When our ski pope Bernhard Russi (75) is asked about the greatest technical talent in alpine history, the Uri resident quickly mentions the name Hansi Hinterseer. The Tyrolean’s racing biography is unique in many ways: at the age of 15 “Hansi” was included in the ÖSV team, at the age of 19 he won his first World Cup victory in the giant slalom in Anchorage (USA), twelve months later Hinterseer at the St. Moritz World Cup in the Giant Vice World Champion. But then the high-flyer had a falling out with his father Ernst (Olympic slalom champion in 1960), who was also his coach until 1974. The senior breaks up with his junior because he marries his eccentric girlfriend Anneliese Großerer in October 1975.
After the disappointment at the 1976 Olympic Games “dahoam” in Innsbruck (where he finished 14th in the giant slalom, almost 7 seconds behind), he made a strong comeback in 1977 in Furano with his sixth World Cup victory. But the following year, at the age of 24, Hinterseer ended not only his first marriage but, to everyone’s surprise, his World Cup career as well. He switches to the internationally insignificant professional tour in the US. The eternal blond boy gained great significance in the music industry from 1994 onwards – as a pop singer, the Kitzbühler, who married Romana Ferrari from Bern in 1986, reached the top of the Danish charts with the title “I just love you”.
Mattias Mayer
The three-time Olympic champion has started the 2022/2023 season well. In Lake Louise (Super-G) and in Val Gardena (Downhill) the Austrian reached the podium in third place. Almost two weeks later, the 32-year-old visited the Super-G in Bormio in the morning hours of December 29. The trainers are convinced that “Mottl is really hot today”. After this visit, the Carinthian actually comes up with a very hot promotion. But not in the race, but in an interview with ORF presenter Rainer Pariasek.
Mayer answers the standard question about the condition of the track with an absolute banger: “The track is good and I feel fit – but I’ve been thinking a bit over the past few days and now I have to say: the time has come for me to pull out back from the Alpine Skiing World Cup because I lost the necessary bite.” At first reporters, coaches and teammates think Mayer was joking. But he actually means it and says goodbye to the ski circus that day.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
