At the 1991 World Championships, a 21-year-old Stephan Eberharter was the biggest surprise, winning two World titles (Super G, combined), without having ever won a World cup race. But after a series of injuries, Eberharter found himself outside of the Austrian team, and off the World Cup circuit. He only managed to return in the 1997-98 season, during which he won his maiden World Cup race, and picked up an Olympic silver medal in the Nagano giant slalom. Eberharter’s performances only improved from then on. In 2002 and 2003, he won the overall World Cup as well as the Super G and downhill World Cups (adding a third downhill World Cup in 2004), and at the Salt Lake Olympics, he won three Olympics medals, including the title in the giant slalom. In 2003, he again became Super G World Champion, having been runner-up two years prior. When Eberharter retired in late 2004, he had collected a total of 29 World Cup wins, and had been named Austrian male athlete of the year on two occasions (1991 & 2002).
Austria