Ulrike Maier (22 October 1967 – 29 January 1994) was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria, a two-time World Champion in super-G. She competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Born in Rauris, Salzburg, where her father ran a ski school, Maier won the super-G gold medal at the World Championships in both 1989 and 1991. She also took home the giant slalom silver medal in the 1991 event. Her first of five World Cup wins came in November 1992 and she attained 21 podiums and 59 top ten finishes in her World Cup career.

Accident

Two weeks prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics, the women's World Cup was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in late January. The downhill on the classic Kandahar course at Garmisch Classic was held on Saturday, 29 January, following an overnight snowfall. In a narrow part of the lower course less than twenty seconds from the finish, Maier's right ski caught an inside edge at , possibly from a patch of soft snow, and caused a violent crash which broke her neck.

She died of her injuries shortly after being evacuated to the hospital in nearby Murnau. At the age of 26, she had considered retirement at the end of the 1994 season, due to a dip in form that resulted in disappointing performances at the 1992 Olympic Games in France and the 1993 World Championships in Japan. However, she had bounced back by winning two giant slaloms during the 1994 season and claiming podium finishes in the two Super Gs of Cortina. Following these results, she was reconsidering her decision in the days before the fateful downhill run, planning to continue until the 1995 World Championships in Spain.

Unlike most other fatal skiing accidents, her crash happened during a live television broadcast. Maier was survived by her daughter Melanie (b. 1989) and was buried in her home village of Rauris, where thousands attended her funeral. Teammate and close friend Anita Wachter wore Maier's world championship medals in the procession.

Initially it was claimed that her death was caused by hitting a wooden timing post. Based on that claim, Maier's fiancé Hubert Schweighofer criticized the organizers of the race and filed suit against them. However, several months later the court found that Maier actually did not hit the timing post with her head, but probably broke her neck by crashing into a pile of snow on the border of the race course.. International Herald Tribune 25 November 1994. The court did not find any negligence from the organizers and dismissed the suit. Manslaughter charges against two FIS race officials were dropped after a settlement was reached in 1996.

World Cup results

Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom Giantslalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1985 17 62 29 — — — 30 1986 18 77 33 — — — — 1987 19 35 19 32 — — — 1988 20 8 10 9 6 — 10 1989 21 7 13 4 4 — 2 1990 22 1991 23 30 — 9 26 — — 1992 24 13 33 6 4 36 — 1993 25 5 32 4 2 45 14 1994 26 7 33 4 7 46 11

Race podiums 5 wins: (2 SG, 3 GS) 21 podiums: (8 SG, 10 GS, 1 SL, 1 PS, 1 K) SeasonDateLocationDisciplinePlace1988 30 Nov 1987 Courmayeur, Italy Slalom3rd7 Mar 1988 Aspen, USA Giant slalom3rd13 Mar 1988 Rossland, Canada Super-G2nd23 Mar 1988 Saalbach, Austria Giant slalom3rd27 Mar 1988 Parallel slalom2nd1989 26 Nov 1988 Schladming, Austria Super-G2nd28 Nov 1988 Les Menuires, France Giant slalom3rd16 Dec 1988 Altenmarkt, Austria Combined2nd6 Jan 1989 Schwarzenberg, Austria Giant slalom2nd7 Jan 1989 Giant slalom2nd1991 22 Mar 1991 Waterville Valley, USA Giant slalom2nd1992 26 Jan 1992 Morzine, France Super-G2nd1993 28 Nov 1992 Park City, USA Giant slalom1st13 Dec 1992 Vail, USA Super-G1st16 Jan 1993 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Super-G1st20 Mar 1993 Åre, Sweden Super-G2nd1994 26 Nov 1993 Santa Caterina, Italy Giant slalom3rd 27 Nov 1993 Giant slalom1st15 Jan 1994 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Super-G2nd17 Jan 1994 Super-G3rd21 Jan 1994 Maribor, Slovenia Giant slalom1st

World Championship results   Year    Age   Slalom   Giant  slalom  Super-G Downhill Combined 1989 21 — 8 1 — — 1991 23 — 2 1 — — 1993 25 — 15 14 — —

Olympic results   Year    Age   Slalom   Giant  slalom  Super-G Downhill Combined 1988 20 10 6 — — — 1992 24 —4 5 — —

References

External links

Ulrike Maier World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation