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Michael Walchhofer

The 29-year-old athlete from Zauchensee started in 33rd position in that competition which allowed him to get the 50gr gold given to the winner at the Prize Ceremony by Winterthur. He is the fourth skier of the Austrian men¹s team to get this prize since the creation of this award last winter, but his achievement is by far not a surprise.

Last season, the talented Austrian reached three times the podium in downhill in Val d'Isere, Val Gardena and St Moritz and he was supposed to start among the top 30 today. Unfortunately, he skied out of the course in the first training run and slightly injured his arm in hitting the protection nets. He came in 18th in the second day, but only 42nd in the last practice run which was decisive for the start-order.

"The course conditions were not the best for higher numbers so I'm pleased by my result today" he said after the competition. "It was rough and you had to fight hard to stay on the fastest line".

"Each downhill is a qualification race for the Austrian skiers - we are such a strong team that you have to get on the podium to have a fair chance to be selected for the St Moritz World Championships. 6th is OK here considering my problems but I have to improve my level in the coming events to enter the leaders¹ group".

A former slalom specialist who scored some top-10 results in past years, Michael "discovered" World Class downhill during the 1999 season when he was 6th in combined at the Vail World Championships. Last December, the tall (1,92 m) champion surprised himself and his trainers in finishing 2nd in two consecutive week-ends in France and Italy despite high startnumbers.

He failed to qualify afterwards in the Olympic downhill team in Salt Lake City so he is eager to accumulate a maximum of good results in the coming weeks to reinforce his chances to compete on the demanding St Moritz course where he was in 3rd last February.

A very quiet and sincere person, Michael is very popular in his team and among the media who appreciate his modesty and his relaxed manners.

When he is not racing or training, he helps his wife Barbara to run the Hotel Zauchensee Zentral in Zauchensee near Altenmarkt where the 2002 World Cup Finals took place in March. He only reached a disappointing 12th place in that race despite his knowledge of the terrain.

Patrick Lang