Hanni Wenzel (original) (raw)

Hanni Wenzel (born in Straubirn, Germany on December 14, 1956) is an alpine skier from Liechtenstein. She won the country's first Olympic medals, and its only gold medals so far, in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York.

Born in Germany, Hanni moved to Liechtenstein at an early age. After she and her brother Andreas began to get successful in skiing - Hanni became the 1974 slalom World Champion - the family was granted Liechtenstein citizenship. In 1976, she won the country's first Olympic medals by taking two bronzes from Innsbruck (Austria).

After winning the 1978 overall World Cup, Wenzel's best year came in 1980, winning the Olympic titles on the slalom and giant slalom, and just missing out on a third gold by taking the silver in the downhill. She also won the combined event in Lake Placid, although it had World Championship status, not Olympic status. At the same Olympics, her brother also won a silver medal, placing Liechtenstein high in the medal ranking of the games.

Wenzel retired in 1985 - with two Olympic titles, two World titles, two overall World Cups, three discipline World Cups and 33 World Cup victories on her victory list. Later, she married Austrian World Champion Harti Weirather and started a marking agency with him.