| Pepi Stiegler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Josef Stiegler | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 April 1937 Lienz, Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Josef "Pepi" Stiegler (born 20 April 1937 in Lienz, Austria) is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. He was a member of the Austrian national ski team during the late 1950s and early 1960s and was one of the world's premier racers.[1] His two children were on the U.S. Ski Team: daughter Resi (b. 1985) was on the World Cup team and son Seppi (b. 1988) was on the Nor-Am circuit.
At the 1960 Winter Olympics of Squaw Valley, Stiegler won a silver medal in the giant slalom and took fifth place in the slalom. At the 1964 Winter Olympics of Innsbruck, he took the bronze medal in giant slalom at Axamer Lizum and then won the gold in slalom, edging out American medalists Billy Kidd and Jimmie Heuga.[1] - He became "Austrian sportsman of the Year 1964".
Pepi Stiegler later made appearances at many ski events in the United States and wrote articles for ski magazines. In 1965, he became the first ski school director at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he served for 29 years, followed by eight years as ambassador of skiing. He stepped down in 2002 after 37 years with the resort.
Similar to Heuga, Stiegler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1993.[1][2][3] Austrian teammate Egon Zimmermann, gold medalist in the 1964 Olympic downhill, also has MS.
At age 66, Stiegler earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from Montana State University in Bozeman in May 2003.[4][5]
- ^ a b c Dorworth, Dick (November 1995). "The quiet legend". SKI. pp. 89–92.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David; Jaime Loucky (2005). The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics, Toronto: Sport Classic Books. ISBN 1-894963-45-8
- ^ "Pepi steps down". Jackson Hole News & Guide. March 13, 2002. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
- ^ Cannon, Ben (August 12, 2009). "At home with Pepi". Jackson Hole Weekly. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013.
- ^ McDonald, Brenda (May 8, 2003). "Former Olympian goes for graduation gold". Montana State University. Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2012.