María José Rienda

María José Rienda Contreras ( born June 29, 1975 in Granada ) is a Spanish former alpine skier. She specializes in giant slalom and was for some years a world leader in this discipline. She also drove occasionally super-G and slalom races.

Biography

My first World Cup race, a downhill, Rienda denied on February 2, 1994 in Sierra Nevada near Granada where they were born. This was the only descent at all, where it was launched. First World Cup points she brought on 8 January 1995 as 20th in the slalom house in the Enns Valley. In the early years of her career Rienda drove slalom races regularly. Your best result in this discipline is a 13th place achieved on January 17, 1999 St. Anton am Arlberg. On October 31, followed in 1999 in Tignes the first top- 10 ranking in a World Cup giant slalom.

Rienda belonged in the sequence during years one of the most enduring giant slalom skiers, but it achieved only on 25 October 2003 in the third place in Sölden, the first podium finish. At the end of the winter 2004/ 05 they won consecutively the two giant slaloms in Åre and at Lenzerheide. The last World Cup victory in a Spanish alpine skier previously dated from the year 1991 ( Blanca Fernández Ochoa in Santa Caterina ). Their most successful season was Rienda 2005/ 06: She won four more races and was beaten in the Giant Slalom World Cup scoring only the Swede Anja Parson.

Less successful is Riendas Record at World Championships and Olympic Winter Games. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City she went in the giant slalom to sixth place after it was still as third-place finisher of the first run on a medal. At the World Cup 1997 in Sestriere and at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio she finished each ranked ninth in the giant slalom. Prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin Rienda was in the giant slalom as Mitfavoritin, but finished only 13th place.

In November 2006, Rienda suffered a torn ACL in his right knee and had to miss the whole World Cup season 2006/ 07. The following winter, she participated in only one World Cup race. After she started with a 16th place in the 2008/ 09 season, Rienda crashed in the second giant slalom of the season in Aspen and suffered a torn ligament in his left knee. She had to prematurely end the season; also the end of her career was in the room.

At the beginning of the 2009/10 season the now 34 year-old returned to the World Cup. But you could not connect to far past performance and won no more World Cup points. On 16 April 2011, she ended her career.

Achievements

Olympic games

• Lillehammer 1994: 21 Giant Slalom, Super -G 29
• Nagano 1998: 12 Giant Slalom, Slalom 14
• Salt Lake City 2002: 6 Giant Slalom, Slalom 15
• Turin 2006: 13 Giant Slalom, Super -G 37
• Vancouver 2010: 38 Giant Slalom

World Championships

• Sierra Nevada 1996: 18 Slalom, Giant Slalom 21
• Sestriere 1997: 9 Giant Slalom
• Vail / Beaver Creek 1999: 13 Giant Slalom, Slalom 26
• St. Anton 2001: 10 Giant Slalom, Super -G 30
• Santa Caterina 2005: 9 Giant Slalom
• Garmisch -Partenkirchen 2011: 28 Super -G, Giant Slalom 31

Junior World Championships

• Maribor 1992: 26 combination, 39 Giant Slalom, Super-G, 40th, 40th slalom, 50th departure

World Cup

• Season 2003/ 04: 3rd giant slalom rating
• Season 2004/ 05: 3rd giant slalom rating
• Season 2005/ 06: 2nd Giant Slalom rating

World Cup wins

European Cup

• 7 podiums, including two victories

Nor- Am Cup

• 2 podiums, including 1 win

Other successes

• 3 times the Spanish Super G Champion (2004, 2005, 2006)
• 6 times Spanish giant slalom champion ( 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006 )
• 8 times Spanish Slalom Champion (1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011)
• 9 wins in FIS races (5x Giant Slalom, Slalom 3x, 1x Super -G)