Matthias Mayer

Matthias Mayer (German pronunciation: [maˈtiːas ˈmaɪɐ]; born 9 June 1990) is an Austrian retired World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic champion.^[1][2]

Matthias Mayer

Mayer in January 2014
Personal information
Born	(1990-06-09) 9 June 1990 (age 34) Afritz am See, Carinthia, Austria
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, super-G, combined, giant slalom
Club	SC Gerlitzen – Kärnten
World Cup debut	22 February 2009 (age 18)
Retired	29 December 2022 (age 32)
Website	matthiasmayer.at
Olympics
Teams	3 – (2014, 2018, 2022)
Medals	4 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams	5 – (2013–2021)
Medals	0
World Cup
Seasons	13 – (2011–2023)
Wins	11 – (7 DH, 3 SG, 1 AC)
Podiums	45 – (22 DH, 22 SG, 1 AC)
Overall titles	0 – (4th in 2020 and 2022)
Discipline titles	0 – (2nd in DH, 2021)
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Representing  Austria World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Super-G 3 10 9 Downhill 7 5 10 Combined 1 0 0 Total 11 15 19 International alpine ski competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 0 1 World Championships 0 0 0 Total 3 0 1 Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Downhill 2018 Pyeongchang Super-G 2022 Beijing Super-G 2022 Beijing Downhill Junior World Championships 2008 Formigal Super-G

Career

Born in Afritz am See in Carinthia,^[3] Mayer made his World Cup debut in Sestriere in February 2009. His best discipline is super-G. After several top ten finishes, his first World Cup podium came at Kitzbühel in a super-G in January 2013.^[4]

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Mayer won the downhill to become the seventh Austrian gold medalist in the 18th edition of the event. Joining him on the podium at Rosa Khutor were Christof Innerhofer of Italy and Kjetil Jansrud of Norway.^[5] Immediately after the Olympics, he had two podium finishes in Norway,^[6][7] and a victory at the World Cup finals. He won his second Olympic gold medal in 2018 in the super G.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Mayer won the bronze medal in the downhill and successfully defended his title in the super G. With three Olympic titles in addition to a bronze, he is Austria’s most decorated Olympic alpine medalist.^[8]

On 29 December 2022, Mayer shocked the ski racing community when he announced his immediate retirement at 32 years old, just hours before a super-G race in Bormio he was scheduled to start.^[9] He finished his World Cup career with 11 wins and 45 podium finishes in 13 seasons.

Personal life

Mayer's father is Helmut Mayer (b.1966), the silver medalist in the first Olympic super-G in 1988;^[10] he also won a silver medal at the World Championships in 1989, in the giant slalom at Vail.

World cup results

Season standings

Season
	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Super G	Downhill	Combined
2011	20	150	—	—	48	—	—
2012	21	50	—	—	13	—	26
2013	22	17	—	39	3	25	9
2014	23	9	—	44	4	5	11
2015	24	9	—	46	3	4	10
2016	25	57	—	—	18	34	—
2017	26	13	—	—	7	8	27
2018	27	9	—	41	10	6	7
2019	28	17	—	52	6	12	—
2020	29	4	—	33	4	3	3
2021	30	7	—	55	3	2	—
2022	31	4	—	—	4	5
2023	32	19	—	—	17	8

Standings through 31 January 2023

Race victories

• 11 wins – (7 DH, 3 SG, 1 AC)
• 45 podiums – (22 DH, 22 SG, 1 AC)

Season
	Date	Location	Discipline
2014	12 Mar 2014	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	Downhill
2015	21 Feb 2015	Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria	Downhill
	22 Feb 2015		Super-G
2017	20 Jan 2017	Kitzbühel, Austria	Super-G
2018	14 Mar 2018	Åre, Sweden	Downhill
2020	1 Dec 2019	Lake Louise, Canada	Super-G
	17 Jan 2020	Wengen, Switzerland	Combined
	25 Jan 2020	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	7 Mar 2020	Kvitfjell, Norway	Downhill
2021	30 Dec 2020	Bormio, Italy	Downhill
2022	27 Nov 2021	Lake Louise, Canada	Downhill

World Championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2013	22	—	—	5	13	10
2015	24	—	—	4	12	11
2017	26	—	—	DNF	11	17
2019	28	—	—	DNF	5	—
2021	30	—	—	6	DNF	DNF2

Olympic results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2014	23	—	6	DNF	1	13
2018	27	—	—	1	9	DNF2
2022	31	—	—	1	3	—

References

1. "biographie". FIS-Ski. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
2. "Matthias Mayer wins gold in Olympic downhill". Sochi2014. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
3. "Matthias MAYER | Alpine skiing | Austria – Sochi 2014 Olympics". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
4. McKee, Hank (25 January 2013). "Svindal gets his 1st Kitzbuehel win in SG". Ski Racing. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
5. "Men's Downhill – Alpine skiing – Sochi 2014 Olympics". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
6. McKee, Hank (1 March 2014). "Guay wins Kvitfjell downhill with Ganong fourth". Ski Racing. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
7. McKee, Hank (2 March 2014). "Home hill advantage to Jansrud in Kvitfjell SG". Ski Racing. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
8. red, ORF at (8 February 2022). "Ski alpin: Mayer auf Augenhöhe mit Olympialegenden". sport.ORF.at (in German). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
9. "Matthias Mayer ends his skiing career". Ski Racing. 30 December 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
10. "Aksel Lund Svindal wins super-G for 20th career victory". USA Today. Associated Press. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

External links

• Matthias Mayer at FIS (alpine)
• Matthias Mayer at Olympics.com
• Matthias Mayer at Olympedia
• Matthias Mayer at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
• Matthias Mayer at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Austrian Ski team – official site – Matthias Mayer – (in German)
• Head Skis – Matthias Mayer
• Official website – (in German)