Franz Heinzer

Franz Heinzer (born 11 April 1962 in Rickenbach, Schwyz, Switzerland) is a former alpine ski racer, who specialized in downhill. He was World Cup champion in downhill three consecutive seasons (1991, 1992, 1993), second only to Franz Klammer (4 consecutive). He won a total of 15 World Cup downhill races, fourth behind Klammer (25), Peter Müller (19) and Stephan Eberharter (18). Together with Franz Klammer, Toni Sailer, Jean Claude Killy, Karl Schranz and Stephan Eberharter, he is considered among the best downhill racers of all time. He also won the season title in Super-G in 1991.

Franz Heinzer

Personal information
Born	(1962-04-11) April 11, 1962 (age 62) Rickenbach, Schwyz, Switzerland
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, Super G, Combined
World Cup debut	1981 – (age 18)
Retired	March 1994 – (age 31)
Olympics
Teams	3 – (1988–94)
Medals	0
World Championships
Teams	6 – (1982–93)
Medals	1 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	14 – (1981–94)
Wins	17 – (15 DH, 2 K)
Podiums	45
Overall titles	0
Discipline titles	4 – (3 DH, 1 SG)
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Representing  Switzerland World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Downhill 15 10 9 Super-G 0 4 2 Combined 2 2 1 Total 17 16 12 World Championships 1991 Saalbach Downhill

Career

Heinzer won at the world's most famous downhill venues: Kitzbühel (3x), Wengen, Val Gardena (2x), Garmisch, Val-d'Isère, Aspen, Lake Louise, and St. Anton. His victory in the downhill event at the 1991 World Championships came after three fourth places at previous championships (Schladming (1982), Bormio (1985) and Crans-Montana (1987). He didn't compete in the downhill at Vail in 1989. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, his right binding released at the starting gate, putting him out of the downhill race.^[1]

A month later, Heinzer retired from international competition at age 31 with 17 World Cup victories and 45 podiums. He now runs his own sports products company in Altdorf, and since the winter of 2004, also works as the assistant coach of Swiss national downhill team.^[2]

The Franz Heinzer Piste in the Swiss ski resort of Stoos, a FIS-approved downhill run on the Klingenstock, is named in his honour.^[3]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Super G	Downhill	Combined
1981	18	36	—	—	not run	10	—
1982	19	26	—	—		10	—
1983	20	26	—	19	not awarded	19	9
1984	21	6	—	18		8	4
1985	22	5	—	36		6	2
1986	23	13	—	—	10	9	8
1987	24	12	—	—	25	3	—
1988	25	8	—	—	16	3	13
1989	26	31	—	—	20	14	—
1990	27	17	—	—	21	7	21
1991	28	4	—	—	1	1	—
1992	29	5	—	—	7	1	—
1993	30	3	—	—	3	1	—
1994	31	36	—	—	29	16	—

Season titles

4 season titles: 3 downhill, 1 super G

Season	Discipline
1991	Downhill
	Super-G
1992	Downhill
1993	Downhill

Individual races

17 race victories: 15 downhill, 2 combined

Season	Date	Location	Race
1983	19 December 1982	Val Gardena, Italy	Combined
1984	9 December 1983	Val-d'Isère, France	Downhill
	10 December 1983		Combined
1986	22 February 1986	Åre, Sweden	Downhill
1987	4 January 1987	Laax, Switzerland	Downhill
1988	11 March 1988	Beaver Creek, USA	Downhill
1991	14 December 1990	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill
	12 January 1991	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	8 March 1991	Aspen, USA	Downhill
	16 March 1991	Lake Louise, Canada	Downhill
1992	14 December 1991	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill
	17 January 1992	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	18 January 1992		Downhill
	25 January 1992	Wengen, Switzerland	Downhill
1993	10 January 1993	Garmisch, Germany	Downhill
	16 January 1993	St. Anton, Austria	Downhill
	23 January 1993	Veysonnaz, Switzerland	Downhill

References

1. "YouTube video: Franz Heinzer, 1994 Olympic downhill". Eurosport. 13 February 1994. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
2. "Franz Heinzer". Swiss Ski team. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
3. "Franz Heinzer Piste". myswitzerland.com. Switzerland Tourism. Retrieved 4 January 2018.

External links

• Franz Heinzer at FIS (alpine)
• Franz Heinzer at Olympedia
• Franz Heinzer at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database