Hans Knauß

Hans Knauß competed at the World Junior Championships in 1988-90 and made his World Cup début in November 1992. He competed in ski racing through the 2004-05 season, eventually winning seven World Cup races, with 27 podiums, including three victories in Super-G and giant slalom, and one in downhill. Knauß was twice runner-up in the Super-G seasonal World Cup (1996, 1998) and was third twice in GS (1997, 2003).

Knauß competed at the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics, winning silver in Super-G at Nagano. He also competed at four World Championships – 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2003 – winning two medals, a bronze in Super-G at Vail in 1999 and a silver in giant slalom at Sankt Moritz in 2003. A doping suspension in 2004-05 led to the end of his skiing career, but he successfully sued a supplement manufacturer that had caused his positive test. Knauß’s brother, Bernhard Knauss (he spelled it differently) was also a top level ski racer and competed for Slovenia at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Knauß then turned to motor racing, which he had dabbled in during his skiing career. He raced at mid-levels from 2005-08, winning an international 100-mile race from Brno in a Lamborghini, and he was second in a Porsche at the 2007 International Czech Endurance Championship. He later worked as a television analyst and cameraman in Austria for ski racing.