While one of the best Austrian skiers in the speed disciplines, Patrick Ortlieb had never won a top-level international race when he was the first starter of the 1992 Olympic downhill. While other skiers came close, Ortlieb’s time was not bettered, and he took home the gold medal. It would be almost two years before his next win, his first World Cup victory in December 1993. He eventually won four World Cup races, three in downhill and one in the Super G. Ortlieb never managed to win a crystal globe, finishing 3rd in the downhill World Cup three times. A second major title came in 1996, when Ortlieb won the World Championship downhill title in Spain, becoming the first Austrian to win the title since Harti Weirather in 1982. Ortlieb abruptly ended his career in 1999 after sustaining a serious injury while training for the Kitzbühel downhill. Later that year, he was voted into the National Council of the Austrian government, serving there three years for the national liberal Freedom Party (FPÖ). He currently runs a hotel in Lech am Arlberg.
Austria