Ski kids in the shadow of their famous parents

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Practice early. This also applies to skiing. Countless boys and girls in this country dream of a glorious career, like that of Marco Odermatt (25) or Lara Gut-Behrami (31). Maybe also Ellie, the daughter of Carlo Janka? The three-year-old is certainly already on the slats and “stemmböglet” down the slope. Dad is proud.

Another example: Matilda is five years old and already conjures up great ski turns in the snow. No wonder, she also has an excellent role model in the family: Felix Neureuther is her father. Will we be amazed again in a few years by world cup victories from Neureuther? Maybe. But chances are good, because the 38-year-old, son of two ski legends, has also made it to the top of the world. But not only him.

Between 2003 and 2019, the slalom specialist won 13 World Cups, eleven of which in his main discipline. He also won a parallel race (Munich 2013) and a giant slalom (Adelboden 2014). He was runner-up three times in the discipline classification and he also won three World Cup medals. Of course he couldn’t help it, because the skiing gene runs in the family.

His father Christian Neureuther (73) can also call himself a six-time World Cup winner. He also achieved all successes in slalom, including two in Wengen (1973 and 1974) and one in Crans-Montana (1979). But Felix’s mother Rosi Mittermaier was even more successful. The former all-rounder, who died in early 2023 at the age of 72, became Olympic champion and world champion (both titles were awarded in the same race) in 1976 slalom and downhill in Innsbruck. She also won World Cup gold in the non-Olympic combination. In the World Cup, she topped the podium ten times.

During her active career, the Liechtensteiner won nine World Cup races, mainly in the Super-G. In this discipline, the SRF expert of today has also secured the small crystal ball in 2017 and 2018. Her father Harti Weirather also won one, but in 1981 in the downhill.

The 65-year-old also became world champion in the highest discipline in 1982 and achieved all his six World Cup victories in this discipline. Hanni Wenzel (66), the mother of Tina Weirather, on the other hand, thought it was a bit slower. The overall World Cup winner of 1978 and 1980 started in all disciplines, but celebrated the greatest successes in giant slalom and giant slalom. In 1980, the 33-time World Cup winner became world champion and Olympic champion in both disciplines, winning the shot slalom once (1978) and giant slalom twice (1974 and 1980).

On Sunday, the Austrian celebrated her second World Cup victory in the Super-G at Kvitfjell. She now has half as many as her father Patrick Ortlieb. Between 1993 and 1995, the 55-year-old won three downhill races and one Super-G. Highlights of his career are undoubtedly the Olympic victory in 1992 and the world title in downhill in 1996. His daughter Nina has already medaled at a world championship. Almost a month ago she won downhill silver in Méribel behind Switzerland’s Jasmine Flury (29).

So far, both Canadians are still waiting for their first podium finish in the World Cup. While Erik finished in the top 10 nine times, Jeffrey only made it twice. However, together they only recently climbed the podium at the World Ski Championships when they won bronze in the team competition.

They have something their father Ken Read never achieved. At the World Cup, however, the 67-year-old was slightly more successful. In the 1970s he was part of the “Crazy Canucks”, who roamed the ski circus. Read has topped the podium five times in a downhill run. In the 1979/80 season he finished second in the downhill World Cup behind the Swiss Peter Müller (65).

The Franco-Swedish technician is a regular at the World Cup, continuing to rack up points and racking up five top 10 finishes to date. The 2012 Olympic junior champion is currently still a long way from what her father Luc Alphand achieved: winning the overall world championship.

The Frenchman won this in the 1996/97 season. That was the logical consequence, because in the Super-G and in the descent (for the third time) he also secured the small crystal balls.

In addition, there are also the descendants of former ski stars who have not (yet) reached the top of the world, have already ended their professional career or had to give up at a young age. Unfortunately, this also includes some Swiss hopes …

The 28-year-old lags behind the reputation of his father Michael von Grünigen (53). There were three points in 28 World Cup starts. His best result: 19th place in the slalom in Schladming in January 2021.

His father’s CV, on the other hand, shows numerous successes: World Cup gold in 1997 and 2001, Olympic bronze in 1998, 23 World Cup victories and four small crystal balls – all in giant slalom.

Although the Walliser scored slightly more points than von Grünigen – he even finished in the top ten once (8th place in Kranjska Gora 2017) – he also failed to really establish himself. Because not a single point was scored in the 2019/20 season (in four starts), he drew a line under his career in March 2020.

Experts and fans from all over the world are still talking about his father. Pirmin Zurbriggen’s successes speak for the 60-year-old’s performance today. In 1988 he became Olympic downhill champion, winning a total of four world championship golds, plus five other world championship medals. And in the World Cup there was (almost) nothing he didn’t win. In each discipline, he saluted from first place at least once, a total of 40 times. Apart from the slalom classification, he also won all disciplines at least once and won the overall World Cup four times.

Her name does not reveal from which skiing legend she descends. She is the daughter of 25-time World Cup winner Maria Walliser. The daughter also has the name of Walliser’s husband Guido Anesini, so that she is not only considered the “daughter of …”.

In the SRF program “Gredig direkt”, the 59-year-old Maria Walliser recently explained: “You need the moment when you are in the right place at the right time and then you can deliver your best performance. My daughter was never able to do that. What also played a role was that she was my daughter.”

At the age of 19, Anesini had to give up his dream of a professional career due to an injury. Until then, she was mainly active in the FIS Cup and the European Cup. However, the current event management master’s student failed to win a race in both competitions.

Her mother, on the other hand, celebrated numerous successes in the elite. Like Zurbriggen, she won all crystal balls except the slalom. There was never an Olympic victory, but three world titles. In 1987 she won gold in the super-G and downhill at Crans-Montana, and in 1989 she doubled in the highest discipline at Vail.

He had five appearances in the World Cup, there were never any points. Injuries continued to plague him until the 2020 Swiss giant slalom champion hung up his skis last year: “At some point, all good things must come to an end,” he wrote on Instagram.

His mother is Erika Reymond-Hess, who will celebrate her 60th birthday on Monday. In addition to her six world championships, the Central Swiss can also boast an equal number of victories in discipline ratings and two overall World Cup victories. She triumphed 31 times at the World Cup.

One that can still make it to the World Cup. Vreni Schneider’s son, who will soon turn 18, is currently still competing in FIS races, but “it’s going very well,” the three-time Olympic champion told the “Luzerner Zeitung” in early February. “He really wants it.” In fact, the 58-year-old wanted her son to focus more on his work because she feared that “the burden of teaching and sports would become too heavy. But he resisted and we let him do it.”

The palmares of former technology specialist Vreni Schneider is overwhelming: six World Cup medals (three of which are gold), 55 World Cup victories, three large and eleven small crystal balls (6x slalom, 5x giant slalom).

Source : Blick