Gerhard Pfaffenbichler

Gerhard Pfaffenbichler ( born March 26, 1961 in Salzburg ) is a former Austrian alpine skier. The downhill specialist who was also successful in the Super- G, drove in the World Cup nine times in the top five and celebrated a victory in the departure of Sarajevo on 29 January 1983. For large events, who grew up in toads Pfaffenbichler could qualify only once, at the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988 he finished fifth in the downhill. In 1981, he was Austrian Champion in the downhill. In December 1989, he ended his career after his second torn ACL.

Career

End of the 1970s, Gerhard Pfaffenbichler was included in the squad of the Austrian Ski Federation ( Austrians ). He scored his first international success at the Junior European Championships 1979 in Achenkirch when he won the silver medal in the downhill behind compatriot Erwin Resch. In the winter of 1979/1980 was followed by finishing third in the downhill of Laax, the first podium finish in the European Cup.

From next winter Pfaffenbichler came in the World Cup for use. In his first World Cup race, in Val d'Isere departure on 7 December 1980 he went as eighth in the top 10. The end of January he missed in St. Anton his first podium by only three hundredths of a second, but already in the next World Cup Downhill on March 5, 1981 in Aspen, he stood in third place for the first time on the podium. The day after he finished last season exit in sixth place, which he achieved eighth place in the downhill World Cup and the 28th place in the overall World Cup and thus in his first World Cup season reached its best overall results. At national level, on 18 February 1981, he celebrated his greatest success when he won the departure of the Austrian Championships in Radstadt before Erwin Resch and Franz Klammer.

The results of the previous year could not confirm Pfaffenbichler in winter 1981/1982. A ninth place to start in Val d'Isere was his best result. Although he went further five times in the top 15, but Pfaffenbichler had before World Cup races more often in the Austrian Ski internal secretion, in order to qualify within the strong departure team for more World Cup starts. A ticket for the 1982 World Cup in Schladming he could not solve with its results. The season 1982/1983 started even worse than the previous. In three starts during the first seven season runs he took the positions 16, 17 and 19, and thus never came into the points. But through two injury-related failures in the Austrian team, he was a starting place for the downhill in Sarajevo on 28 January 1983. There he celebrated entirely unexpected the greatest success of his career when he won the dress rehearsal for the Olympic Winter Games next year before the Canadian Steve Podborski and Franz Klammer. In March, followed by two more top-10 places in Aspen and Lake Louise, with which he was as in the previous year of 16 World Cup downhill. At the Olympic Games in 1984 Pfaffenbichler lacked, however. A fifth place in Val d'Isere as the best World Cup result of the season 1983/1984 as well as an eleventh place in Laax and a tenth rank in Kitzbühel were not enough for the qualification.

The surprise victory of Sarajevo could repeat Pfaffenbichler never more, even more podium finishes in the World Cup failed to materialize. In the season 1984/1985 he reached in any single World Cup race the points, but he was sidelined because of an injury several races. In the winter of 1985/1986 he reported back in February, and in the two slopes of Morzine fourth place respectively. Already at the season opener in August in Las Lenas Argentina he scored eighth place. At the last race of the season he could not participate, because in Åre he suffered a cruciate ligament injury, which meant an early end of the season. In the downhill World Cup he could therefore not be improved - as two years ago, he finished 19th place - but in the World Cup as he reached 34 his second-best result. The reason for this was the Pfaffenbichler was able to score in the Super- G for the first time and for the only time in his career in two combinations (seventh place in St. Anton and eleventh place in Crans- Montana).

In his comeback season 1986/1987 were Pfaffenbichler best results, a fifth place in the Super G in Furano and an eighth place in the downhill in Wengen. After he reached three top 10 places in January 1988 had (fifth rank in the Super- G of Leukerbad and each eighth in the downhill in Bad Kleinkirchheim and Schladming ) Pfaffenbichler succeeded at last what had been hitherto denied him, to the participation a major event. At the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988, he was indeed the first time in the Olympic super- G is not used, but on the descent, he reached the second best Austrian good fifth place. A fifth-place finish was the best World Cup result of from Salzburg in the 1988/1989 season, otherwise he drove this winter but only two more times into the top 15 at the World Cup in Vail, therefore he was missing again. In December 1989 Pfaffenbichler again suffered a cruciate ligament injury, after which the 28 -year-old ended his career after nine years in the World Cup and a total of 22 top- 10 finishes in a fall in Val Gardena.

Sporting successes

Olympic Winter Games

Calgary 1988: 5th exit

European Junior Championships

Achenkirch 1979 2nd exit

World Cup

Season 1980/1981: 8 downhill World Cup
9 placings in the top five, including 1 win:

Other successes

Austrian Champion in downhill in 1981
Winning the super-G discipline standings of the Nor- Am Cup 1987/1988
1 podium in the European Cup

Alpine skiing combined 1981 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1988 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1986 Alpine Skiing World Cup Alpine skiing at the 1988 Winter Olympics Aspen (Colorado) 1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1982 1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1984 Winter Olympics Lake Louise (Alberta) 1984 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1985 Alpine Skiing World Cup Crans-Montana 1987 Alpine Skiing World Cup Furano, Hokkaido FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1989 Vail (Colorado) Arbeiter-Zeitung (Vienna)

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