Wiltrud Drexel
Wiltrud Drexel ( born August 16, 1950 in Feldkirch ) is a former Austrian alpine skier. She won the bronze medal in the giant slalom at the Olympic Winter Games in 1972 and the bronze medal in the downhill at the World Championships in 1974. Their reach in the World Cup downhill wins and five additional 22 podiums. In the 1968/69 season she decided the downhill World Cup itself. In addition, it was four times Austrian Champion.
Career
Drexel decided at the age of twelve years into a career as a ski racer. In 1968 she made her debut in the World Cup and won on January 17, with tenth place in the exit of Bad Gastein their first World Cup points. Already in the 1968/69 season included the then 18 -year-old to the best in the world. She celebrated two victories on the descents of the SDS- race in Grindelwald and the gold key race in Schruns and secured with another podium finish in St. Anton winning the Downhill World Cup. Even in the giant slalom she managed a third place and she reached with only one point behind the second-placed Florence Steurer third place in the overall World Cup.
In the season 1969/70 Drexel scored a fourth place in the departure of Grindelwald and the second place in Garmisch -Partenkirchen. In the descent of the 1970 World Cup in Val Gardena medal contender but does not finish the race because already opened a ski binding shortly after the start. In slalom, she left also on. At the end of the winter they still managed a second place finish in the giant slalom in Voss, but fell by a total of only three top-10 results back to the 15th place in the overall World Cup. In 1970 she became the first Austrian Champion in the downhill. In the 1970/71 season it will return considerably more top results. She ran a total of twelve times in the top ten and was in downhill and slalom six times on the podium. The only World Cup victory this winter, she celebrated on January 28, 1971 in the departure of Pra Loup. Thus, she finished fourth in the overall World Cup and second in the downhill World Cup. In the slalom World Cup they reached seventh place their best finish in the following years she gained in this discipline only a few World Cup points.
At the beginning of the 1971/72 season scored Drexel after several top 10 results ranked second in the downhill in Bad Gastein. At the Olympic Winter Games Sapporo in 1972 they came however in its strongest discipline not to use, but they won rather surprising bronze medal in the giant slalom, which counted as a World Championship medal at the same time. Behind the Swiss Marie -Therese Nadig and the Austrian Annemarie Moser -Pröll In the Olympic slalom she fell out in the first round. After the games, she also managed the World Cup for the first time in three years a podium finish in the giant slalom and they scored a win and a second place in the two slopes of Chamonix, which they like was second downhill World Cup and seventh in the World Cup last year. Also in the 1972/73 season scored Drexel second in the downhill World Cup - for the third time in a row behind her teammate Annemarie Moser- Pröll. Although Drexel remained without a win, but reached three second places in the departures area of Grindelwald and Chamonix Schruns and third place in St. Moritz and fourth place in Val d'Isere. With another top -10 results in the slalom and giant slalom, she was sixth in the World Cup.
Two second and two third places in World Cup downhill Drexel reached in the 1973/74 season, which she was ninth in the downhill World Cup and third in the overall World Cup. At the World Championships 1974 in St. Moritz, she won behind Annemarie Moser -Pröll and the Canadian Betsy Clifford the bronze medal in the downhill. In addition, she was Austrian Champion in Downhill and Slalom. To kick off the season 1974/75 Drexel on the descent of the criterion of the first snow in Val d'Isere celebrated her fifth and final World Cup victory. Two third places you go in the downhill in Cortina d' Ampezzo and in the combination of Schruns. In 1971 and 1973 she won the combination of the gold key race in Schruns, these included at that time but not for the World Cup. In the downhill World Cup they finished fifth in the overall World Cup Eleventh.
In the 1975/76 season Drexel succeeded no podium. Of the five top-10 results was the fourth place in the departure of Cortina d'Ampezzo her best World Cup result. At the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck in 1976 she could not attend because she was inferior in team internal qualification against Elfi Deufl. After this winter, where she was the third time become Austrian downhill champion, Drexel ended her career. Today she lives in Warth in Vorarlberg, where it leads a boarding house.
Sporting successes
Olympic Winter Games
- Sapporo 1972: 3rd giant slalom
World Championships
- Sapporo 1972: 3rd giant slalom
- St. Moritz 1974: 3rd exit
World Cup
- 1968/69 season: 3rd Overall World Cup, first downhill World Cup, 7th World Cup giant slalom
- Season 1969/70: 6 Downhill World Cup
- 1970/ 71: 4th overall World Cup, 2nd downhill World Cup, 7th World Cup Slalom
- 1971/72 season: 7 Overall World Cup, 2nd downhill World Cup
- 1972/73 season: 6 Overall World Cup, 2nd downhill World Cup
- 1973/ 74: 9 Overall World Cup, 3rd World Cup downhill
- Season 1974/75: 5 Downhill World Cup
World Cup wins
Austrian Championships
- Austrian Champion in downhill in 1970, 1974 and 1976 and the slalom in 1974