Thea Hochleitner first became known in Austrian skiing when she won a downhill in the 1951 international Winter Sports Week at Bad Gastein. Her first major victory was the 1953 Arlberg-Kandahar downhill in Sankt Anton. Hochleitner won six Austrian titles – slalom in 1954-55, giant slalom in 1954 and 1956, and combined in 1954-55.
She won the 1955 Harriman Cup slalom in Sun Valley, and in 1956 won an Olympic bronze in the giant slalom at Cortina. In the 1956-57 season Hochleitner won four major races, with a downhill win at Crans Montana, and winning the downhill, slalom, and combined on Mount Etna in Sicily. She retired after the 1957-58 season, and worked for many years with the ski company Kneissl. In 1996 Hochleitner was given a gold medal for her services to the Republic of Austria.
Austria