Günther Mader


Günther Mader is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from Austria. Born in Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, he is one of only five men to have won World Cup races in all five alpine disciplines.
Mader made his World Cup debut at age 18 and competed for 16 seasons, including four Winter Olympics and seven world championships. He was the bronze medalist in the downhill at the 1992 Olympics and won a total of six medals in the world championships. He won his first championship medal, the silver medal in the Slalom Race at Crans Montana in 1987, after only placing eighth after the first leg of the competition. Mader won two World Cup season titles, giant slalom in 1990 and combined in 1996, and placed second in the overall World Cup standings in 1995 and 1996, and third in 1990. Without his 14 wins, he did achieve another 27 places in World Cup races.
His only World Cup victory in downhill was the prestigious Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria, in 1996 at age 31. Mader retired from competition after the 1998 season with 14 World Cup victories, 44 podiums, and 146 top ten finishes.
Only 13 days after his retirement in March 1998, he suffered a stroke: as a result the right side of his body was paralysed and he lost 85 percent of his vocabulary. However he recovered to the greatest possible extent. After convalescence, he wrote a book titled ÜberLeben which covered his career, the stroke and his work as director of racing at ski manufacturer Salomon in Austria, a position he took up during his recovery from his stroke. ÜberLeben has a double meaning in German, translatable as "about life" but also as "survival".

World Cup victories

Season titles

Individual races

SeasonDateLocationRace
198621 Feb 1986Wengen, SwitzerlandCombined
19862 Mar 1986Geilo, NorwaySlalom
198820 Mar 1988Åre, SwedenCombined
19902 Dec 1989Mt. Ste. Anne, CanadaGiant Slalom
199030 Jan 1990Les Menuires, FranceSuper-G
19916 Jan 1991Garmisch, GermanySuper-G
19928 Mar 1992Panorama, CanadaSuper-G
199328 Mar 1993Whistler, CanadaSuper-G
199427 Nov 1993Park City, USAGiant Slalom
199412 Dec 1993Val-d'Isère, FranceSuper-G
199516 Jan 1995Kitzbühel, AustriaSuper-G
199613 Jan 1996Kitzbühel, Austriadownhill
199614 Jan 1996Kitzbühel, AustriaCombined
199712 Jan 1997Chamonix, FranceCombined