Katja SEIZINGER

Born in Datteln in Germany on May 10, 1972, Katja Seizinger became the most successful German skier of all time and is still considered the greatest female downhill expert since Annemarie Moser-Pröll. A master of the speed disciplines, Seizinger was an exception in the world of German skiing because she did not hail from a region famous for its mountains. Rather, she came from the northern Ruhr region, more noted for industry than skiing, and which the champion elegantly noted was a flat as her hand. However, the daughter of a wealthy family was unperturbed and took up the sport that was to become her career at the age of three.

Following her motto of ‘Habe Spass', Katja really did enjoy herself as a professional skier, all of which started when she made her World Cup debut at 17 years old on December 12, 1989 at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The Mozart loving athlete finished an impressive 15th in the combined but had to wait a further two years for her maiden victory, the Super G at Santa Caterina Valfura. An amazing 35 victories followed that initial success in all tournaments.

Seizinger climbed the highest rung on the podium on three occasions in the Winter Olympic Games, taking advantage of her amazing ability to glide over the snow under even intense pressure. She made her Olympic debut in the 1992 Albertville Games, where the confident teenager defied her slender 19 years to clinch bronze in the Super G. The first time she tasted Olympic success, however, was in the downhill at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. This triumph was followed up four years later in Nagano in the downhill and the combined, becoming the first female skier to win consecutive gold medals in the same discipline at the Winter Games. She rounded off her Japanese Olympic adventure with bronze in the Giant Slalom.

However, like her idol, Ingemar Stenmark, the German flier did not limit her success to only one event. In the World Championships, she walked away from Morioka in 1993 with a gold medal in the Super G and three silver medals, in the downhill, the Super G and the Combined from the Championship held Sierra Nevada and Sestriere.

Her overall domination in the World Cup earned her two crystal globes in 1996 and 1998. Throughout the 90's, of which she was a true child due to her admiration of actors, Kevin Costner and Whoopi Goldberg, Seizinger was one of the most adored athletes in Germany, reflected in being awarded a hat trick of trophies in the national Sportswoman of the Year, in 1994, 1996 and 1998.
However, the following year after her last overall title and Olympic glory, at the pinnacle of her career, Seizinger decided to quit after a horrendous accident on the slopes. Damaged ligaments in both knees and a fractured left shin while she was training in Italy the year previous had left their psychological mark on the champion. She enjoyed it all while she could.