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Rosa Anna Katharina Mittermaier-Neureuther (German: [ˈʁozi ˈmɪtɐˌmaɪ̯ɐ] ; née Mittermaier; 5 August 1950 – 4 January 2023) was a German alpine skier. She was the overall World Cup champion in 1976 and a double gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics.[1]
.jpg) Mittermaier in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rosa Anna Katharina Mittermaier |
| Born | 5 August 1950 Munich, Bavaria, West Germany |
| Died | 4 January 2023 (aged 72) Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany |
| Occupation | Alpine skier |
| Height | 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Skiing career | |
| Disciplines | Downhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined |
| World Cup debut | 1 February 1967 (age 16) |
| Retired | 31 May 1976 (age 25) |
| Website | www |
| Olympics | |
| Teams | 3 – (1968, 1972, 1976) |
| Medals | 3 (2 gold) |
| World Championships | |
| Teams | 5 – (1968–76)[a] |
| Medals | 4 (3 gold) |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 10 – (1967–1976) |
| Wins | 10 – (1 GS, 8 SL, 1 K) |
| Podiums | 41 – (4 DH, 11 GS, 22 SL, 4 K) |
| Overall titles | 1 – (1976) |
| Discipline titles | 2 – (SL & K in 1976) |
Medal record | |
Mittermaier competed in alpine skiing from 1967 to 1976, retiring after a highly successful season in which she finished with two Olympic gold medals and ranked first in the World Cup. She remained popular, advertising for sports and as a non-fiction writer. She was known as Gold-Rosi, and she was inducted into Germany's Sports Hall of Fame in April 2006 when it was initiated.
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Mittermaier was born in Munich[2] and grew up in Reit im Winkl on the Winklmoos-Alm.[3] Her father had run there the Passauer Hütte.[4] A certified skiing instructor, he also owned a skiing school from 1966,[5] and was the first to train his daughters.[6]
Racing career
Mittermaier made her World Cup debut in the inaugural season of 1967,[7] and won her first World Cup race two seasons later.[8]
She won two gold medals (downhill and slalom)[9] and one silver (giant slalom) at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.[10][11] Her victory in the Olympic downhill was the only downhill win in her international career.[12] Mittermaier was the most successful athlete at those games, along with cross-country skier Raisa Smetanina of the Soviet Union, earning her the nickname of Gold-Rosi within Germany (then West Germany).[13]
In addition to the overall World Cup title, she also won the season title in slalom and combined in 1976. After winning both races at Copper Mountain in Colorado to wrap up the overall and slalom titles,[14] the four-year-old resort immediately named the race course run after her.[15][16] In addition to her success in international competition, she also won 16 German national titles during her career.[17]
On 31 May 1976, she retired from international competition at age 25, following the very successful 1976 season.[18][19][20]
After racing
After her career in sports, Mittermaier joined Mark McCormack's International Management Group as the only German alongside Jean-Claude Killy, Jackie Stewart, and Björn Borg.[21] During her three-year contract, she designed a collection of winter sports clothing and made international appearances for various skiing products.[22] She wrote non-fiction books, often together with her husband.[19] She worked for several charities and occasionally as a commentator for German television for major sporting events. She established a charitable foundation to aid children with rheumatism in 2000.[17][19]
Personal life and death
Mittermaier was born with a twin sister who died at birth. Her younger sister Evi Mittermaier also competed as an alpine skier and previously lived in a hotel.[17] Rosi and Evi also recorded two albums of Bavarian folk songs together.[17]
In 1980 she married Christian Neureuther, winner of six World Cup slalom races.[23] They are the parents of Felix Neureuther (b. 1984), a World Cup ski racer for Germany,[24] and a daughter Ameli who works as a fashion designer.[25]
Mittermaier died because of cancer in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 4 January 2023, at the age of 72 years.[3][26][27] Her mortal remains were cremated and the urn was buried at the cemetery of Garmisch. Next to her gravestone - a rock, which bears the inscription "Rosi Mittermaier-Neureuther" and resembles a mountain - is a similiar one without inscription, which is obviously reserved for her husband.
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- 1976 German Sportswoman of the Year[19][28]
- 1999 Olympic Order[28]
- 2001 Goldene Sportpyramide of the Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe[19]
- 2005 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[28]
- 2006 Germany's Sports Hall of Fame[28]
- 2007 Bavarian Order of Merit[19][28]
She was an honorary citizen's of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Reit im Winkl.[19]
Season standings
Source:[29]
Points were only awarded for top ten finishes (see scoring system).
Season titles
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1976 | Overall |
| Slalom | |
| Combined |
Race victories
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 16 January 1969 |  Schruns, Austria | Slalom |
| 1970 | 14 March 1970 |  Voss, Norway | Slalom |
| 1973 | 2 February 1973 | Schruns, Austria | Slalom |
| 1974 | 27 February 1974 |  Abetone, Italy | Slalom |
| 8 March 1974 |  Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia | Slalom | |
| 1975 | 13 December 1974[30] | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | Slalom |
| 1976 | 17 December 1975 | Combined | |
| 22 January 1976 | Bad Gastein, Austria | Slalom | |
| 5 March 1976 |  Copper Mountain, United States | Giant slalom | |
| 6 March 1976 | Slalom |
Source:[29]
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Source:[12]
Many of her books were written with her husband Christian Neureuther:[19]
- Mittermaier, Rosi (1977). Ski-Zirkus : meine 10 Jahre im Hochleistungssport (in German). Frankfurt/M.: Ullstein. ISBN 3-550-17672-4. OCLC 3629220.
- ——; Neureuther, Christian; Messmann, Kuno (1983). Unser Skibuch. München: Mosaik. ISBN 3-570-00735-9. OCLC 64741076.
- —— (1994). Gewinnen mit Walking das Original-Rosi-Mittermaier-Walking-Buch (in German). Düsseldorf. ISBN 978-3-7919-0531-0. OCLC 75506562.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - —— (2004). Nordic Walking Ganzjahrestraining - starke Muskeln - gesunde Gelenke - top Kondition - super Figur (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-426-64139-2. OCLC 76551517.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Bartl, Reiner (2005). Stabile Knochen, mobiles Leben Osteoporose aktiv begegnen, vermeiden, behandeln und beweglich bleiben ; frühzeitige Diagnose und wirksame Therapie ; 3-stufiges Knochenaufbauprogramm mit Rosi Mittermaier (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-426-64277-1. OCLC 181457767.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian; Mittermaier, Rosi (2006). Nordic-Walking-Praxisbuch leichter Einstieg in 7 Schritten mit der Nordic-ALFA-Technik ; für jeden geeignet – rundum gesund (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-426-64341-9. OCLC 163402416.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian; Deutscher Skilehrerverband (2008). Neuer Schwung für alle, die die Freude am Skifahren (wieder) entdecken wollen ; mit allen Skigebieten (D), Loipen, Insidertipps, Checklisten (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-485-01146-4. OCLC 271637893.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian (2008). Die Heilkraft des Sports mit Spaß und Freude mehr Gesundheit (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-485-01130-3. OCLC 227007343.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian (2009). Sicher durch den Skiwinter (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-485-01189-1. OCLC 643238604.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - —— (2011). Fröhlich bin ich sowieso mit 11 Rezepten (in German). München. ISBN 978-3-485-01321-5. OCLC 759529483.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian (2012). Die schönsten Schneeschuhtouren Bayern, Tirol, Salzburger Land (in German). [Luzern]. ISBN 978-3-7243-1043-3. OCLC 774039790.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Mittermaier, Rosi; Neureuther, Christian (2013). Kraftort Alpen. München. ISBN 978-3-7243-1050-1. OCLC 859342148.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ——; Neureuther, Christian; Edition Raetia GmbH (2016). Mit Rosi und Christian in Südtirol kulinarische Begegnungen (in German). Bozen. ISBN 978-88-7283-555-5. OCLC 932030791.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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