Pirmin Zurbriggen
| Disciplines |
Downhill, Super-G,
Giant slalom, Slalom,
Combined |
| Born |
4 February 1963 (1963-02-04) (age 49)
Saas Almagell, Switzerland |
| World Cup debut |
4 January 1981 |
| Retired |
17 March 1990 |
| Website |
zurbriggen.ch |
| Olympics |
| Medals |
2 (1 gold) |
| World Championships |
| Medals |
9 (4 gold) |
| World Cup |
| Seasons |
10 |
| Wins |
40 |
| Podiums |
83 |
| Overall titles |
4 |
| Discipline titles |
9 |
|
|
Pirmin Zurbriggen (born 4 February 1963 in Saas-Almagell, Valais) is a former champion alpine ski racer. He won the overall World Cup title four times, an Olympic gold medal in 1988 in Downhill, and 9 World Championships medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze).
[edit] Life and career
Zurbriggen was born in Saas-Almagell, Valais, Switzerland. With his victory at the downhill of Kitzbühel on 11 January 1985 he became the first to win all five disciplines of modern alpine ski racing [1] (Marc Girardelli, the second one to enter this exclusive cercle, won his first downhill race 4 years later at the same place).
He retired from international competition after having won the 1990 World Cup overall title – his fourth, which by then was the maximum number of overall titles won by a single racer, reached before only by Gustav Thöni in 1975. Again it was Marc Girardelli who followed him 1991 with a fourth overall title, and 1993 Girardelli added another one to become the first and so far only racer with 5 overall titles in men's World Cup history.
Zurbriggen grew up in the remote village of Saas-Almagell, near Saas-Fee. With a total of 40 World Cup victories over nine years and five gold medals, Zurbriggen belongs to the "All-Time Greats" of alpine skiing, ranking fifth in all time wins and having 169 Top Ten finishes.[2]
He left the World Cup tour as a hero to start a family. Married on 30 June 1989 to Monika Julen, with whom he has five children, he is also the brother of Heidi Zurbriggen (a winner of three World Cup downhill races).
Pirmin now runs the "Wellness Hotel Pirmin Zurbriggen" with his parents in Saas-Almagell and another, Apparthotel Zurbriggen, in Zermatt.[3] In addition, after his World Cup career had ended he partnered with Authier Ski company on a line of signature skis.[4]
[edit] World Cup victories
[edit] Season titles
[edit] Race victories
- ^ victories of Pirmin Zurbriggen on fis-ski.com, sorted by date, http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/613.html?sector=AL&competitorid=68531&type=result&category=WC&season=ALL&sort=P&discipline=ALL&position=3&place=&Submit=Search&bt=prev&limit=20&bt=prev&rec_start=20, retrieved 2011-12-30
- ^ Most Valuable Racers - Top 50, http://www.ski-db.com/db/stats/WC_m_winners.asp, retrieved 2010-02-22
- ^ Zurbriggen Homepage, http://www.zurbriggen.ch/, retrieved 2007-11-22
- ^ California Ski Company (2003), The Authier Story, http://www.calskico.com/authier.htm, retrieved 2007-11-19
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
Zurbriggen, Pirmin |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Swiss alpine skier |
| Date of birth |
4 February 1963 |
| Place of birth |
Saas Almagell, Switzerland |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
Étienne Dagon
