Erika Hess (born 6 March 1962) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. One of the best female racers of the 1980s, Hess had 31 World Cup wins (22 in slalom), four slalom titles (1981–83 and 1985), and two overall titles (1982, 1984). She also won six World Championship gold medals between 1982 and 1987, and took bronze in the slalom at the 1980 Winter Olympics at age 17. Hess missed another medal in 1985, when she led after the first run of the slalom at the "Stelvio" course at Bormio, but failed to finish the second leg.
Biography Born in Wolfenschiessen, Nidwalden, Hess' first World Cup start was at age fifteen in Berchtesgaden, West Germany, on January 25, 1978, and her first podium was on December 6, 1979, at Val-d'Isère, France. She retired at age 25 following the 1987 season with 31 World Cup victories, 76 podiums, and 146 top tens in 165 starts.Ski-db.com – results – Erika Hess – accessed 2010-03-13 She won six World Cup Slalom Races in a row from January to the season finish in March 1981.
Hess was awarded with the »Skieur d’Or« (»The ski racer in gold«, later named "Serge Lang Trophy" - named after Serge Lang - an award given by "The Association Internationale des Journalistes de Ski", an international Consortium of journalists competent for ski sports) on November 22, 1982 (5 points ahead to Phil Mahre). She tied for the slalom title in 1986, but was runner-up to Roswitha Steiner due to the tiebreaker: Steiner had four slalom wins and Hess had two.
Her cousin Monika Hess (b. 1964) also was an alpine ski racer.
She explained her retirement in an article in the newspaper Sport that an important reason for her career end before Calgary 1988 was the factors given at the Olympic Games such as weather, hustle and bustle, nervous pressure, which weigh many times more heavily at the Olympics than at a normal race. She had not been able to cope with these circumstances.
Hess married Jacques Reymond (her trainer); the couple and three sons were living at Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz in Vaud at the time of Reymond's death in May 2020 (due to COVID-19).
Erika is organizing races and training camps for upcoming ski racers.
World Cup results Season titles Season Discipline 1981 Slalom 1982 Overall Slalom 1983 Slalom 1984 Overall Giant slalom Combined 1985 Slalom
Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom GiantSlalom Super G Downhill Combined 1978 15 28 16 21 notrun — — 1979 16 15 18 10 — — 1980 17 7 6 5 — — 1981 18 2 1 3 34 4 1982 19 1 1 3 35 2 1983 20 3 1 4 notawarded(w/ GS) — 4 1984 21 1 4 1 35 1 1985 22 4 1 12 — 5 1986 23 2 2 7 20 25 2 1987 24 4 3 4 18 32 3
Race victories 31 wins – (21 SL, 6 GS, 4 K) 76 podiums – (42 SL, 20 GS, 14 K) Season Date Location Race 1981 13 January 1981 Schruns, Austria Slalom21 January 1981 Crans-Montana, Switzerland Slalom31 January 1981 Les Diablerets, Switzerland Slalom3 February 1981 Zwiesel, West Germany Slalom15 March 1981 Furano, Japan Slalom24 March 1981 Wangs–Pizol, Switzerland Slalom25 March 1981 Giant slalom 1982 13 December 1981 Piancavallo, Italy Slalom21 December 1981 St. Gervais, France Slalom3 January 1982 Maribor, Yugoslavia Slalom20 January 1982 Bad Gastein, Austria Slalom Combined 1982 World Championships20 March 1982 L'Alpe d'Huez, France Giant slalom21 March 1982 Slalom 1983 8 December 1982 Val-d'Isère, France Giant slalom17 December 1982 Piancavallo, Italy Slalom9 February 1983 Maribor, Yugoslavia Slalom 1984 1 December 1983 Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia Slalom11 December 1983 Val-d'Isère, France Giant slalom14 December 1983 Sestriere, Italy Combined15 January 1984 Maribor, Yugoslavia Slalom22 January 1984 Verbier, Switzerland Combined29 January 1984 St. Gervais, France Giant slalom17 March 1984 Jasná, Czechoslovakia Giant slalom 1985 19 March 1985 Park City, UT, USA Slalom 1985 World Championships22 March 1985 Heavenly Valley, CA, USA Slalom 1986 12 December 1985 Sestriere, Italy Combined15 December 1985 Savognin, Switzerland Slalom11 March 1986 Park City, UT, USA Slalom 1987 5 December 1986 Waterville Valley, NH, USA Slalom21 December 1986 Val Zoldana, Italy Slalom 1987 World Championships
World Championship results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1978 15 — 9 not run — — 1980 17 3 DNF2 — — 1982 19 1 1 — 1 1985 22 DNF2 11 — 1 1987 24 1 — — 7 1 From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 1980 17 3 DNF2 not run — not run 1984 21 5 7 —
See also List of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's race winners
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