Ernst Oberaigner

Ernst Oberaigner took up skiing during World War II and joined the national team in 1951. One year later, he won all of the disciplines at the Austrian junior national championships and was selected as a reserve with the delegation to the 1952 Oslo Olympics, but did not compete.

His greatest international success came at the 1954 World Championships, when he won bronze in the downhill behind his compatriots Christian Pravda and Martin Strolz. He was unable to qualify for the Olympics in 1956, although he did win the senior national championship in the slalom that year, before breaking his leg twice. He did not rebound until the new decade, when he won the national combined title in 1960, and competed at that year’s Squaw Valley Olympics. There, in the slalom, he was disqualified in the second run.

Oberaigner retired after these Games and turned to coaching, heading the national team from 1962 through 1964. He also served as a course setter for run #1 of the slalom at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics. He then retired from coaching and worked at a ski company, before starting his own shop in Saalfelden, where he was also an official of the local ski club.