Saša Molnar

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameAlexander "Saša"•Molnar
Used nameSaša•Molnar
Other namesSascha Molnar, Alessandro Molnar
Born24 February 1920 in Bled, Bled (SLO)
Died20 November 2004 in Lugano, Ticino (SUI)
AffiliationsETH Zürich, Zürich (SUI) / SAS, Zürich (SUI)
NOC Yugoslavia
Nationality Slovenia

Biography

Saša Molnar was born at Bled near the Julian Alps in present-day Slovenia, and moved to Switzerland at the age of 18 where he attended schooling in Zürich. There, he became active in skiing as a student attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich). A member of ETH Zürich and the Swiss Academic Ski Clubs, Molnar was the winner of several domestic giant slalom and downhill competitions held across Switzerland throughout the 1940s. As one of the top alpine skiers of Yugoslavian extraction, he was selected for the national team to compete at the 1948 Sankt Moritz Olympics Winter Games, which were held in his country of residence at the time, Switzerland. There, he competed in the slalom event, placing 18th in a field of 77 competitors, and ahead of the three other Yugoslav competitors. He also competed in the downhill event, but did not finish the race after breaking one of his wooden skis on his run.

Following the Olympics, Molnar continued to reside in Switzerland until at least the early 1960s, and continued to compete in skiing events, representing clubs in Klosters, Zürich and Vals at various points in time. He continued to be successful in the sport, winning another two national titles in the downhill and combination in 1949 and 1950. In 1952, he was a member of the championship title-winning team from ​​SC Klosters that won the combination event at the national championships. He continued to compete in, and win events even after his 40th birthday, last skiing for a club in Locarno in 1962. Molnar was married to Maria Gansser, who was also active in alpine skiing in the 1940s, and had six children. He continued to reside in Switzerland until his death in 2004, aged 84.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal Nationality As
1948 Winter Olympics Alpine Skiing (Skiing) YUG SLO Saša Molnar
Downhill, Men (Olympic) DNF
Slalom, Men (Olympic) 18