Daniel Albrecht

Daniel Albrecht

Disciplines	Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Combined
Club	Fiesch Eggishorn
Born	May 25, 1983 (1983-05-25) Fiesch, Valais, Switzerland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
World Cup debut	January 23, 2003 (age 19)
Website	Daniel-Albrecht.ch
Olympics
Teams	1
World Championships
Teams	3
Medals	3 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	7
Wins	4
Podiums	8
Medal record Men's Alpine Skiing Competitor for Switzerland World Championships Gold 2007 Åre Combined Silver 2007 Åre Giant Slalom Bronze 2007 Åre Team Event

Daniel Albrecht (born May 25, 1983, in Fiesch, Valais, Switzerland) is a champion alpine ski racer. He has four World Cup race victories and a world championship.

Albrecht made his World Cup debut at age 19 in January 2003 in a slalom at Schladming, Austria. A few weeks later he competed in the slalom at the 2003 World Championships at St. Moritz.

At the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, Albrecht won the gold medal in the super combined event, and took the silver medal in the giant slalom. A month later he made his first World Cup podium, a second place finish in the downhill at Lenzerheide. Eight months later he won his first World Cup race, a super-combined held in Beaver Creek, Colorado, followed by a giant slalom victory three days later.

As of December 2010, Albrecht has 4 World Cup victories, 8 podiums, and 22 top ten finishes

Hahnenkammrennen injury

At Kitzbühel, Austria, on Thursday, January 22, 2009, Albrecht crashed in the final downhill training run on the Hahnenkamm's Streif course; he sustained brain and lung trauma and was placed in an induced coma. Albrecht, the fifth racer on the course, was traveling at 138 km/h (86 mph) when he lost control on the final jump (Zielsprung) and flew through the air for about 70 meters (230'). He landed on his back, bounced forward onto his knees, then his face, and came to a stop near the finish line. Unconscious, Albrecht received medical attention for about 20 minutes before being airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in nearby St. Johann.

Two days later, Dr. Wolfgang Koller announced that the risk on Albrecht's life was decreasing. Dr. Markus Wambacher said that the pressure inside his head was lessening and that he could make a full recovery. He also stated that Albrecht had problems with his knees and stomach.^{[citation needed]}

Albrecht was removed from the induced coma after three weeks, on February 12. Doctors reported that he was breathing on his own.

Recovery

Albrecht expectedly missed the remainder of the 2009 season but had recovered sufficiently to train with the Swiss ski team in October, less than nine months after the crash. Still not ready for World Cup competition, he sat out the 2010 season, missing the Winter Olympics.

He returned to the World Cup circuit in the giant slalom at Beaver Creek, Colorado, on December 5, 2010. Albrecht raced his first speed event of his comeback at Wengen, Switzerland on January 14, 2011, the downhill portion of the super-combined on a shortened Lauberhorn course. He missed a gate just after the high-speed Hannegschuss, about fifteen seconds from the finish, and safely skied off of the course.

World Cup podiums

Season	Date	Location	Race	Place
2007	2007 World Championships
	14-Mar-2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	Downhill	2nd
2008	29-Nov-2007	Beaver Creek, USA	Super-Combined	1st
	02-Dec-2007		Giant Slalom	1st
	05-Jan-2008	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant Slalom	2nd
	11-Jan-2008	Wengen, Switzerland	Super-Combined	2nd
	15-Mar-2008	Bormio, Italy	Slalom	2nd
2009	26-Oct-2008	Sölden, Austria	Giant Slalom	1st
	21-Dec-2008	Alta Badia, Italy	Giant Slalom	1st

External links

• Daniel-Albrecht.ch - official site
• Daniel Albrecht at the International Ski Federation
• FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Daniel Albrecht
• You Tube video - Daniel Albrecht - training run crash at Kitzbühel - 22-Jan-2009