Peter Wirnsberger was born in Styria and finished the Skihandelsschule (commercial school for talented skiers) in Schladming. In January 1977, racing in his third World Cup downhill, he marked his first World Cup podium finish with a third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In the downhill World Cup of his first season Wirnsberger placed eighth, a result he repeated in the following season (1977-78) when he archived two more podium finishes and also participated in his first World Alpine Skiing Championships. In the 1978-79 season he finished second in the downhill World Cup behind Swiss Peter Müller after winning his first World Cup downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well as the pre-Olympic race at Lake Placid.
The following year Wirnsberger won in Val d’Isere and qualified for the Winter Olympics where he won silver behind his compatriot Leonhard Stock. Still performing on top level the next two years Wirnsberger’s results were not good enough to qualify for the 1984 Olympics and he had to wait until January 1985 before again winning a World Cup downhill in Val d’Isere. In the downhill World Cup 1984-85 he finished in third position. But his best season was 1985-86 when he won four races in a row including Kitzbühel twice and won the downhill World Cup. In total Wirnsberger was a member of the Austrian national team for 16 years before retiring in 1992. He won eight World Cup downhills in his career but was not able to qualify for another Olympic Games after 1984.
Austria