Ulrike Maier

Ulrike Maier (22 October 1967 – 29 January 1994) was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria, a two-time World Champion in super-G. She competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Winter Olympics.^[1]

Ulrike Maier

Personal information
Born	(1967-10-22)22 October 1967 Rauris, Salzburg, Austria
Died	29 January 1994(1994-01-29) (aged 26) Murnau, Bavaria, Germany
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	163 cm (5 ft 4 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, combined
Club	USC Rauris
World Cup debut	9 December 1984 (age 17)
Olympics
Teams	2 – (1988, 1992)
World Championships
Teams	3 – (1989, 1991, 1993)
Medals	3 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	9 – (1985–1989, 1991–1994)
Wins	5 – (2 SG, 3 GS)
Podiums	21
Overall titles	0 – (5th in 1993)
Discipline titles	0 – (2nd in SG, 1993)
Medal record Women's alpine skiing Representing  Austria World Championships 1989 Vail Super-G 1991 Saalbach Super-G 1991 Saalbach Giant slalom

Born in Rauris, Salzburg, where her father ran a ski school, Maier won the super-G gold medal at the World Championships in both 1989 and 1991.^[2] She also took home the giant slalom silver medal in the 1991 event. Her first of five World Cup wins came in November 1992 and she attained 21 podiums and 59 top ten finishes in her World Cup career.

Accident

Memorial stone of Ulrike Maier in Rauris

Grave of Maier in Rauris cemetery

Two weeks prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics, the women's World Cup was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in late January. The downhill on the classic Kandahar course at Garmisch Classic was held on Saturday, 29 January, following an overnight snowfall. In a narrow part of the lower course less than twenty seconds from the finish, Maier's right ski caught an inside edge at 105 km/h (65 mph), possibly from a patch of soft snow, and caused a violent crash which broke her neck.^[3]

She died of her injuries shortly after being evacuated to the hospital in nearby Murnau.^[4] At the age of 26, she had considered retirement at the end of the 1994 season, due to a dip in form that resulted in disappointing performances at the 1992 Olympic Games in France and the 1993 World Championships in Japan.^[5] However, she had bounced back by winning two giant slaloms during the 1994 season and claiming podium finishes in the two Super Gs of Cortina. Following these results, she was reconsidering her decision in the days before the fateful downhill run, planning to continue until the 1995 World Championships in Spain.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike most other fatal skiing accidents, her crash happened during a live television broadcast. Maier was survived by her daughter Melanie (b. 1989)^[2] and was buried in her home village of Rauris, where thousands attended her funeral.^[6] Teammate and close friend Anita Wachter wore Maier's world championship medals in the procession.^[7]

Initially it was claimed that her death was caused by hitting a wooden timing post. Based on that claim, Maier's fiancé Hubert Schweighofer criticized the organizers of the race and filed suit against them.^[8] However, several months later the court found that Maier actually did not hit the timing post with her head, but probably broke her neck by crashing into a pile of snow on the border of the race course.^[9] The court did not find any negligence from the organizers and dismissed the suit. Manslaughter charges against two FIS race officials were dropped after a settlement was reached in 1996.^[10]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1985	17	62	29	—	—	—	30
1986	18	77	33	—	—	—	—
1987	19	35	19	32	—	—	—
1988	20	8	10	9	6	—	10
1989	21	7	13	4	4	—	2
1990	22
1991	23	30	—	9	26	—	—
1992	24	13	33	6	4	36	—
1993	25	5	32	4	2	45	14
1994	26	7	33	4	7	46	11

Race podiums

• 5 wins: (2 SG, 3 GS)
• 21 podiums: (8 SG, 10 GS, 1 SL, 1 PS, 1 K)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Place
1988	30 Nov 1987	Courmayeur, Italy	Slalom	3rd
	7 Mar 1988	Aspen, USA	Giant slalom	3rd
	13 Mar 1988	Rossland, Canada	Super-G	2nd
	23 Mar 1988	Saalbach, Austria	Giant slalom	3rd
	27 Mar 1988		Parallel slalom[11]	2nd
1989	26 Nov 1988	Schladming, Austria	Super-G	2nd
	28 Nov 1988	Les Menuires, France	Giant slalom	3rd
	16 Dec 1988	Altenmarkt, Austria	Combined	2nd
	6 Jan 1989	Schwarzenberg, Austria	Giant slalom	2nd
	7 Jan 1989		Giant slalom	2nd
1991	22 Mar 1991	Waterville Valley, USA	Giant slalom	2nd
1992	26 Jan 1992	Morzine, France	Super-G	2nd
1993	28 Nov 1992	Park City, USA	Giant slalom	1st
	13 Dec 1992	Vail, USA	Super-G	1st
	16 Jan 1993	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Super-G	1st
	20 Mar 1993	Åre, Sweden	Super-G	2nd
1994	26 Nov 1993	Santa Caterina, Italy	Giant slalom	3rd
	27 Nov 1993		Giant slalom	1st
	15 Jan 1994	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Super-G	2nd
	17 Jan 1994		Super-G	3rd
	21 Jan 1994	Maribor, Slovenia	Giant slalom	1st

World Championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1989	21	—	8	1	—	—
1991	23	—	2	1	—	—
1993	25	—	15	14	—	—

Olympic results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1988	20	10	6	—	—	—
1992	24	—	4	5	—	—