Daniel Albrecht

Daniel Albrecht (born 25 May 1983) is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. He was a world champion in super combined in 2007, but was severely injured in a training run in 2009.

Daniel Albrecht

Personal information
Born	(1983-05-25) 25 May 1983 (age 41) Fiesch, Valais, Switzerland
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, combined
Club	Fiesch Eggishorn
World Cup debut	23 January 2003 (age 19)
Retired	6 October 2013 (age 30)
Website	Daniel-Albrecht.ch
Olympics
Teams	1 – (2006)
Medals	0
World Championships
Teams	3 – (2003, 2005, 2007)
Medals	3 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	7 – (2005–09, 2011–12)
Wins	4 – (3 GS, 1 SC)
Podiums	8 – (1 DH, 4 GS, 1 SL, 2 SC)
Overall titles	0 – (7th in 2008)
Discipline titles	0 – (3rd in K, 2008)
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Representing  Switzerland World Championships 2007 Åre Combined 2007 Åre Giant slalom 2007 Åre Team event Junior World Championships 2003 Serre Chevalier Downhill 2003 Serre Chevalier Giant slalom 2003 Serre Chevalier Combined 2003 Serre Chevalier Slalom

Racing career

Born in Fiesch in the canton of Valais, Albrecht made his World Cup debut at age 19 in January 2003 in a slalom at Schladming, Austria. A few weeks later, he competed in the slalom at the 2003 World Championships at St. Moritz. That March, he won three gold medals and a silver at the Junior World Championships at Serre Chevalier, France.

At the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, Albrecht won the gold medal in the super combined event, and took the silver medal in the giant slalom. A month later he made his first World Cup podium, a second-place finish in the downhill at Lenzerheide. Eight months later he won his first World Cup race, a super combined held in Beaver Creek, Colorado, followed by a giant slalom victory three days later.

Albrecht has four World Cup victories, eight podiums, and 22 top ten finishes.^[1]

Hahnenkammrennen injury

At Kitzbühel, Austria, on Thursday, 22 January 2009, Albrecht crashed in the final downhill training run on the Hahnenkamm's Streif course; he sustained brain and lung trauma and was placed in an induced coma.^[2] The fifth racer on the course, Albrecht was traveling at 138 km/h (86 mph) when he lost control on the final jump (Zielsprung) and flew through the air for about 40 m (130 ft).^[3][4] He landed on his back, bounced forward onto his knees, then his face, and came to a stop near the finish line. Unconscious, Albrecht received medical attention for about 20 minutes before being airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in nearby St. Johann. He was later transferred to the university hospital in Innsbruck.^[3]

Two days later, Dr. Wolfgang Koller announced that the risk on Albrecht's life was decreasing. Dr. Markus Wambacher said that the pressure inside his head was lessening and that he could make a full recovery. He also stated that Albrecht, age 25, had problems with his knees and stomach.^{[citation needed]} He was removed from the induced coma after three weeks, on 12 February, and doctors reported that he was breathing on his own.^[5][6][7][8]

Recovery

Albrecht expectedly missed the remainder of the 2009 season but had recovered sufficiently to train with the Swiss ski team in October, less than nine months after the crash. ^[9] Still not ready for World Cup competition, he sat out the 2010 season, missing the Winter Olympics.

Albrecht returned to the World Cup circuit in the giant slalom at Beaver Creek in December 2010 and finished 21st. Albrecht raced his first speed event of his comeback in Switzerland at Wengen in January 2011, the downhill portion of the super combined on a shortened Lauberhorn course. He missed a gate just after the high-speed Hannegschuss, about fifteen seconds from the finish, and safely skied off of the course.

Knee injury

During a training run for the Lake Louise downhill in November 2012, Albrecht crashed and suffered a dislocated left kneecap with torn ligaments, and underwent surgery in Switzerland.^[10][11] Less than a year later on 6 October 2013, he announced his retirement from racing.

World Cup results

Race podiums

• 4 wins – (3 GS, 1 SC)
• 8 podiums – (1 DH, 4 GS, 1 SL, 2 SC)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Place
2007	2007 World Championships
	14 Mar 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	Downhill	2nd
2008	29 Nov 2007	Beaver Creek, USA	Super combined	1st
	2 Dec 2007		Giant slalom	1st
	5 Jan 2008	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant slalom	2nd
	11 Jan 2008	Wengen, Switzerland	Super combined	2nd
	15 Mar 2008	Bormio, Italy	Slalom	2nd
2009	26 Oct 2008	Sölden, Austria	Giant slalom	1st
	21 Dec 2008	Alta Badia, Italy	Giant slalom	1st

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant  slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2005	21	53	34	43	—	—	4
2006	22	50	26	30	—	—	36
2007	23	27	22	20	31	30	18
2008	24	7	18	5	23	43	3
2009	25	20	55	7	23	22	18
2010	26	Did not compete, severely injured in January 2009
2011	27	140	—	42	—	—	—
2012	28	152	—	52	—	—	—
2013	29	Did not compete, injured left knee in November 2012

World Championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2003	19	30	—	—	—	—
2005	21	DNF1	30	—	—	7
2007	23	DNF1	2	4	6	1

Olympic results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant  slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2006	22	DNF2	DNF1	—	—	4

Videos

• YouTube video – Daniel Albrecht – training run crash at Kitzbühel – 22 Jan 2009
• YouTube video – Daniel Albrecht – returns in GS at Alta Badia – 19 Dec 2010

References

1. Ski-db.com – results – Daniel Albrecht – accessed 26 January 2013
2. "Albrecht placed in coma after accident during Streif training". The Guardian. London. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
3. "Swiss skier Albrecht kept in coma after crash". ESPN.com. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
4. "Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht in coma after crashing in training". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
5. "Albrecht awake, lung damage the biggest hurdle left". Ski Racing.com. 13 February 2009.
6. "Albrecht awakens from induced coma". ESPN. Associated Press. 12 February 2009.
7. "Albrecht suffers no permanent damage after crash". USA Today. Associated Press. 13 February 2009.
8. "Albrecht leaves hospital, hopes to race again". SI.com. Associated Press. 30 April 2009. Archived from the original on 15 February 2013.
9. Telegraph.co.uk- "Daniel Albrecht unsure about World Cup return..." 16 October 2009
10. "Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht injured". ESPN. Associated Press. 22 November 2012.
11. "Daniel Albrecht undergoes surgery after serious knee injury". SI.com. Associated Press. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012.

External links

• Daniel Albrecht at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Daniel Albrecht World Cup season standings at the International Ski Federation
• Daniel Albrecht at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
• Daniel Albrecht at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Swiss Ski team – official site Archived 3 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
• Official website (in German)