Hanni Wenzel facts for kids

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Hanni Wenzel

Alpine skier
Disciplines	Giant slalom, slalom, combined, downhill, super-G
Born	(1956-12-14) 14 December 1956 (age 68) Straubing, Bavaria, West Germany
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
World Cup debut	1 March 1972 (age 15)
Retired	March 1984 (age 27)
Website	wwp-group.com
Olympics
Teams	2 – (1976, 1980)
Medals	4 (2 gold)
World Championships
Teams	5 – (1974–82) includes two Olympics
Medals	9 (4 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	13 – (1972–84)
Wins	33
Podiums	89
Overall titles	2 – (1978, 1980)
Discipline titles	5 – (2 GS, 1 SL, 2 K)
Medal record Women's alpine skiing Representing  Liechtenstein World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Slalom 11 11 10 Giant slalom 12 9 9 Downhill 2 0 3 Super-G 0 1 0 Combined 8 4 9 International competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 1 World Championships 4 3 2 Olympic Games Gold 1980 Lake Placid Giant slalom Gold 1980 Lake Placid Slalom Silver 1980 Lake Placid Downhill Bronze 1976 Innsbruck Slalom World Championships Gold 1974 St. Moritz Slalom Gold 1980 Lake Placid Combined Silver 1974 St. Moritz Combined Silver 1978 Garmisch Combined Bronze 1976 Innsbruck Combined

Hanni Wenzel (born December 14, 1956) is a famous retired Liechtenstein alpine ski racer. She was an Olympic, World Cup, and world champion. Hanni won Liechtenstein's very first Olympic medal in 1976. Four years later, she won the country's first two Olympic gold medals.

Hanni Wenzel's Early Life and Career

Hanni Wenzel was born in West Germany in a town called Straubing. She moved to Liechtenstein when she was young. Hanni and her younger brother, Andreas Wenzel, both became very successful ski racers. Because of their achievements, their family was granted Liechtenstein citizenship.

In 1974, Hanni won a gold medal in slalom and a silver medal in the combined event at the World Championships. She was only 17 years old when she won the slalom title. This made her the youngest female Alpine Skiing World Champion in slalom at that time. She was a little younger than Esme Mackinnon, who won in 1931.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Hanni won a bronze medal. This was in the slalom event. It was the first Olympic medal ever for Liechtenstein. She also earned another world championship medal in the combined event that year.

Hanni Wenzel's Amazing 1980 Season

Hanni Wenzel had an incredible year in 1980. She had already won the World Cup overall title in 1978. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, USA, she won two gold medals. These were in the slalom and giant slalom races. She almost won a third gold, taking silver in the downhill race.

She also won a world championship gold medal in the combined event. This was her fourth world championship medal in that event. Her brother Andreas also won a silver medal at the same Olympics. This helped Liechtenstein rank high in the medal count for the games.

In 1980, Hanni won nine World Cup races. She also won the overall, giant slalom, and combined season titles. Her brother Andreas won the men's overall title, making it a Wenzel family sweep! Hanni's daughter, Tina Weirather, later won a bronze medal for Liechtenstein in Super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Hanni Wenzel's Retirement and Legacy

Hanni Wenzel was not allowed to compete in the 1984 Winter Olympics. This was because of rules about accepting money for promotions directly. Another famous skier, Ingemar Stenmark, was also not allowed to compete for the same reason. Both had won two gold medals in 1980.

Hanni retired after the 1984 ski season. She finished her career with many impressive achievements. She had two Olympic titles and four World Championship titles. She also won two overall World Cups and three discipline World Cups. She had 33 World Cup victories in total. From 1948 to 1980, the Winter Olympics races were also counted as World Championships.

Liechtenstein has won ten medals at the Winter Olympics through 2018. Eight of these medals were won by two sets of siblings. The Wenzel family earned six medals. The Frommelt brothers, Willi and Paul, won two more.

World Cup Season Titles

Hanni Wenzel won 7 World Cup season titles during her career.

• 2 overall titles
• 2 giant slalom titles
• 1 slalom title
• 2 combined titles

World Cup Season Standings

This table shows Hanni Wenzel's rankings in the World Cup each season.

World Cup Race Victories

Hanni Wenzel won 33 World Cup races and achieved 89 podium finishes.

• 11 wins in Slalom
• 12 wins in Giant Slalom
• 2 wins in Downhill
• 8 wins in Combined

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1974	19 Dec 1973	Zell am See, Austria	Giant slalom
1975	21 Feb 1975	Naeba, Japan	Slalom
	14 Mar 1975	Sun Valley, USA	Slalom
1977	19 Jan 1977	Schruns, Austria	Combined
1978	15 Dec 1977	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Giant slalom
	10 Jan 1978	Les Mosses, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	22 Jan 1978	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
	24 Jan 1978	Berchtesgaden, West Germany	Slalom
	25 Jan 1978		Slalom
	2 Mar 1978	Stratton Mountain, USA	Giant slalom
1979	12 Dec 1978	Piancavallo, Italy	Giant slalom
	3 Feb 1979	Pfronten, West Germany	Slalom
	4 Feb 1979		Combined
	8 Feb 1979	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
1980	8 Dec 1979	Limone Piemonte, Italy	Giant slalom
	14 Dec 1979		Combined
	10 Jan 1980	Berchtesgaden, West Germany	Giant slalom
	16 Jan 1980	Arosa, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	21 Jan 1980	Bad Gastein, Austria	Slalom
			Combined
	23 Jan 1980	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
	26 Jan 1980	Saint-Gervais, France	Giant slalom
	1980 Winter Olympics
	25 Feb 1980	Waterville Valley, USA	Giant slalom
1981	27 Jan 1981	Les Gets, France	Combined
	8 Feb 1981	Zwiesel, West Germany	Combined
1982	12 Dec 1981	Piancavallo, Italy	Combined
	18 Mar 1982	Furano, Japan	Giant slalom
1983	30 Jan 1983	Les Diablerets, Switzerland	Combined
1984	21 Dec 1983	Haus im Ennstal, Austria	Downhill
	22 Dec 1983		Giant slalom
	14 Jan 1984	Bad Gastein, Austria	Downhill
	15 Jan 1984		Combined
	20 Mar 1984	Zwiesel, West Germany	Slalom

World Championship Results

This table shows Hanni Wenzel's results at the World Championships.

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also considered the World Championships for alpine skiing.
In World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined event was a "paper race." This meant they used the results from the downhill, giant slalom, and slalom races to figure out the combined winner.

Olympic Results

This table shows Hanni Wenzel's results at the Olympic Games.

• Hanni Wenzel and Ingemar Stenmark were not allowed to compete in the 1984 Olympics. This was due to rules about accepting money for endorsements.

Hanni Wenzel's Family

Hanni Wenzel has two siblings who were also World Cup ski racers: Petra Wenzel and Andreas Wenzel. She is married to Austrian ski racer Harti Weirather. Harti was the world champion in downhill in 1982. Hanni and Harti now run their own sports marketing company. Their daughter, Tina Weirather, is also a successful World Cup ski racer.

Honours and Awards

• Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (awarded on September 6, 2017).

See also

In Spanish: Hanni Wenzel para niños

• List of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's race winners
• List of Olympic medalist families