Anneliese Schuh-Proxauf

Anneliese Schuh-Proxauf competed in her first Alpine skiing race in 1933, alongside her older sister Rosemarie, and had a relatively successful youth career despite being hampered occasionally by injuries. When Austria was annexed by Germany in 1938, she began representing Germany internationally and, at the 1941 World Championships, took bronze in all three events: the downhill, the slalom, and the combined. These results were annulled after World War II, however, as only Axis and neutral countries had been allowed to participate. During the conflict, she studied economics at the University of Innsbruck.

Schuh-Proxauf began representing Austria again after the war and won the slalom and combined at the 1948 national championships, in addition to coming second in the downhill. This led to her selection for that year’s Winter Olympics, but injuries impacted her performance and she finished 17th, 6th, and 7th in the downhill, slalom, and combined respectively. She recovered by the time of the 1949 Austrian Championships and tied Resi Hammerer for first in the slalom, also coming in second behind her in the combined and downhill.

She was selected for the 1950 World Championships, but just missed the podium, coming in fourth in the downhill and slalom and fifth in the giant slalom. She placed third in the downhill and giant slalom at the 1952 Austrian Championships, and won the combined, but was ultimately used only as reserve for that year’s Winter Games. She retired from active competition the following year, save for one unfruitful appearance at the 1956 national championships.

Also active in tennis, after her retirement Schuh-Proxauf got into aviation alongside her athlete husband Max Schuh. Together they founded a profitable private airline company and Anneliese set several national gliding records.