Patrick Staudacher

Italian downhill and super-G specialist Patrick Staudacher had to overcome a series of physical problems during his career. In 1998 a serious knee ligament injury resulted in five operations and in 2005 a cornea transplant was required on a troublesome eye.

Despite the setbacks, Staudacher still managed some impressive performances. He won the Italian junior giant slalom title in 1998 and in 2001 and 2005 won the senior Italian SuperG title (also third in 2004 and 2008). At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics he was third in the slalom element of the combined competition and finished seventh overall.

Staudacher reached the pinnacle of his career at Åre, Sweden, in 2007 when, on his début, he won the Super G World Championship beating Austria’s Fritz Strobl and Switzerland´s Bruno Kernen. Staudacher competed in his second and last World Championships in 2009 and that same year achieved his only podium finish in the World Cup when third in the Super G at Val Gardena.

At Vancouver in 2010 Staudacher took part in his third Olympics before retiring at the end of the 2011/12 season. He had been honoured in 2007 with the Collare d’Oro for Sporting Merit from the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).