Daron Rahlves

Daron Rahlves Louis ( born June 12, 1973 in Walnut Creek, California ) is a former American professional skiers. First, he was active as an alpine ski racer and was after the turn of the millennium the world's best athletes in the disciplines of downhill and Super -G. He won twelve World Cup races and three medals at World Championships, including 2001, the gold in the Super -G. End of the season 2005/ 06 he told his temporary retirement. After a one year break in 2008, he moved to the freestyle skiing and was since then in the discipline of ski cross is also a world leader.

• 2.1 The Olympic Games
• 2.2 World Championships
• 2.3 World Cup
• 2.4 Further successes

Career

Alpine Skiing

Rahlves grew up in Truckee, about 15 miles from Lake Tahoe. In his youth he was interested mainly used for water skiing. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Dennis, property dealer by profession, who had been successful in the 1960s as a water skier. 1981 the family moved to the nearby Alpine Meadows to more frequent ski can. When he was 14 years old, Rahlves moved to the Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield (Vermont ), a secondary private school with a focus on sport. After finishing high school he enrolled at the University of Colorado and later at the University of Nevada in Reno. He became world champion in jet ski riding in 1993.

Alpine skiing Rahlves had previously operated rather than compensation, as he had not come at the Junior World Championship in 1992 in Maribor over a 33 square. But then he decided not to focus on skiing. In the seasons 1993/94 and 1994/95 he won the super-G standings of the Nor- Am Cup. From 1994 to 1996, he was three times in a row, American champion in giant slalom. His debut in the Ski World Cup he had on 13 March 1994 in the departure of Whistler, he reached No. 62 Four days later, he drove in the Super G Vail at position 20; as it is, however, concerned about the World Cup Final, there was no World Cup points for it. Such he won for the first time on 26 February 1995 as 23 of the super -G of Whistler. Two weeks later, on 10 March 1995, he urged Kvitfjell with fourth place in the Super- G in the middle of the world's top front.

Rahlves was located in the following winters do not keep you at the highest level and binned in the World Cup only sporadically in the top ten. At the Olympic Winter Games 1998, he erected 7th place in the Super -G. However, the big breakthrough did not seem to want to succeed. This changed abruptly towards the end of the 1999/2000 season, when he won in a row on 3 and 4 March 2000 Kvitfjell within 24 hours of two World Cup downhills. Unspectacular results early in the season 2000/ 01 seemed a throwback to the past mediocrity to suggest. But after Rahlves had finished third on 20 January 2001 at the Streif in Kitzbühel, he was suddenly the most cited favorite for the 2001 World Championships in St. Anton, he became world champion in the super -G, before the Austrians Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier. ; in the downhill, it was enough to place fifth

The 2001/02 season did not go as desired. Among the rather mediocre results stood out only a fourth place in the Super G on the Streif. With a disappointment ended Rahlves for the 2002 Winter Olympics (8th place in the Super- G as the best result). The season he finally had to end prematurely after a training accident. Far more successful Rahlves was in season 2002/ 03 he was able to win two departures, including those in Kitzbuhel, which he was the first American Hahnenkamm downhill winner after Wallace Werner in 1969. With five other podium finishes he missed winning the downhill discipline rating just barely. But another disappointment he suffered at the World Cup in 2003, ranked 16th in the giant slalom was the best result.

Be held in the season of 2003/ 04 Rahlves best in the world. He won two Super - Gs each and departures, were added three more podium finishes. In both disciplines, he was at the end of winter on the second place of the respective World Cup standings. After he had been shown in the giant slalom comparatively inconspicuous benefits him the breakthrough came in the 2004/05 season with several top 10 results in this discipline at the top. At the World Championships 2005 he won two more medals: First silver in the downhill behind compatriot Bode Miller, four days later the bronze medal in the giant slalom (he had performed surprisingly after the first round, but then fell up to third place back ). During the winter, he finished with a super -G victory.

At the beginning of the season 2005/ 06 Rahlves scored the only place on the podium in a World Cup giant slalom. He also won three more runs, including the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen. But even at the Olympic Winter Games in 2006, his third overall at the Olympics, he won a medal because he did not get along with the slopes in Sestriere. With the American championship total attention he closed on 26 March 2006 from his alpine career.

Ski Cross

Rahlves justified his resignation by saying that he had besides training, competition and material tests hardly had time for his real passion, the freeriding. For this reason he beat out an engagement as a sports commentator for CBS, as a coach he did not act. Inspired by the freestyle scene, he was already in 2005 occurred in a freeride promotional film, which was soon followed by others. Finally, however, he decided to continue to operate professional sports, now in the freestyle ski cross discipline.

At first go to Rahlves was able to establish a world leader. In the winter of 2007/ 08 he took part in the 48 Straight Jeep Tour in North America, reaching third place in the overall standings. In the staged in Aspen Winter X Games 2008, he decided to ski cross competition for themselves. On 2 February 2008, the first application followed in freestyle skiing World Cup, which he pushed forward to Deer Valley to the finals and eventually finished fourth. In the freestyle World Cup 2009 Inawashiro he was ranked ninth his first World Cup podium as ski crossers scored Rahlves on January 5, 2010 in St. Johann in Tirol. At the Olympic Winter Games 2010, in the last race of his career, Rahlves already retired from the quarter-finals, finishing in 28th place.

Successes as alpine skiers

Olympic games

• Nagano 1998: 7 Super -G, Giant Slalom 20
• Salt Lake City 2002: 8 Super -G, downhill 16
• Turin 2006: 9 Super -G, downhill 10

World Championships

• Sierra Nevada 1996: 22 Super -G
• Sestriere 1997: 31 Departure
• Vail / Beaver Creek 1999: 13 Super -G
• St. Anton 2001: 1 Super -G, downhill 5, 19 Giant Slalom
• St. Moritz 2003: 16 Giant Slalom, Super -G 22
• Bormio 2005: 2nd exit, 3 Giant Slalom, Super -G 10

World Cup

• Season 1999/2000: 10th World Cup downhill, super- G World Cup 10
• Season 2002/ 03: 6 Overall World Cup, 2nd downhill World Cup
• Season 2003/ 04: 5 Overall World Cup, 2nd downhill World Cup, 2 Super - G World Cup
• Season 2004/ 05: 5 Overall World Cup, 3rd Super - G World Cup, 4th downhill World Cup
• Season 2005/ 06: 4th overall World Cup, 3rd Downhill World Cup, 3rd Super - G World Cup

Rahlves won 12 World Cup races, plus 7 second and 9 third places:

Other successes

• 8 U.S. Championship titles (departure 2001 Super -G 2000, 2004, 2005 and 2006; giant slalom in 1994, 1995 and 1996)
• Winning the super-G standings of the Nor- Am Cup in the seasons 1993/94 and 1994/95

Success as a ski crossers

• Winner at the Winter X Games 2008
• Freestyle World Cup 2009 Inawashiro 9 ski cross
• 1 podium finish in World Cup ski cross, 3 other placements in the top five

Source

• World Sports Archives, February 2006 edition ( Munzinger archive)