Fritz Strobl

Fritz Strobl

Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Austria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Salt Lake City Downhill
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Åre Team event
Silver medal – second place 2007 Åre Super-G

Fritz Strobl (born 24 August 1972 in Lienz, Austria) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer.

Strobl was the gold medalist in the downhill at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, run on the Grizzly course at Snowbasin.[1][2][3]

In his final season in 2007, he was the silver medalist in the super-G at the World Championships in Åre, Sweden.

Strobl competed on the World Cup circuit for 15 seasons and recorded 9 victories: seven in downhill and two in super-G. He had 31 podium finishes (top 3) and 110 top ten finishes.

He finished second in the downhill standings in 2002 and 2006, and third in 1997 and 2001. His best finish in the overall standings was fifth in 2005. [1]

Strobl is of a handful of racers to have twice won the Hahnenkamm downhill at Kitzbühel (1997 and 2000). He still holds the record time for finishing the full Streif course in 1:51.58, an average speed of 66.4 mph (106.9 km/h), set in 1997. Strobl retired from international competition at age 34, at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

In his final race on 15 March 2007, Strobl descended the Lenzerheide super-G course dressed as Mozart.[4][5]

  1. ^ Layden, Tim (18 February 2002). "Grizzly Bear". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
  2. ^ "Strobl's downhill shock". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. 11 February 2002. p. C6.
  3. ^ Pennington, Bill (11 February 2002). "Austria's downhill dominance returns". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (New York Times). p. 1E.
  4. ^ Bulman, Erica. "Strobl ends career in Mozart-clad descent". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Fritz Strobl". YouTube. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2009.