Christian Auer

Christian Auer was unfortunate that his best years of sliding came before the sport of skeleton returned to the Olympic fold in 2002. Five times a World Championship medallist between 1989 and 1996, the high point of his career came in 1991 when he spearheaded an Austrian 1-2-3 in front of a home crowd at the Igls track near Innsbruck. He also won silver medals in 1989 and 1995 and bronze in 1992 and 1996. Auer’s consistency over this period also won him the Skeleton World Cup title five years out of six between 1990 and 1995. When skeleton re-entered the Winter Games in 2002, Auer was 36-years-old and passed his prime as a slider so could only finish 12th of the 26th entrants in what would prove his last race before retirement.

Auer retained involvement in the sport by coaching the Canadian national team from 2003 onwards and by overseeing the careers of his sons, Alexander and Florian. In 2016 both his sons competed in the World Championships when they returned to the Igls track.