Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin) and was voted "Swiss Sportswoman of the Century".

Vreni Schneider
Personal information
Born26 November 1964 (1964-11-26) (age 59)
Elm, Switzerland
OccupationAlpine skier
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesTechnical Events
ClubSC Elm
World Cup debut1984
Retired1995
Olympics
Teams3
Medals5 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams4
Medals6 (3 gold)
World Cup
Seasons12
Wins55
Podiums101
Overall titles3
Discipline titles11
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing  Switzerland
World Cup race podiums
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Slalom 34 10 3
Giant slalom 20 14 12
Downhill 0 0 1
Super-G 0 0 2
Combined 1 4 0
Total 55 28 18
International competitions
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 1 1
World Championships 3 2 1
Total 6 3 2
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Lillehammer Slalom
Gold medal – first place 1988 Calgary Slalom
Gold medal – first place 1988 Calgary Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 1994 Lillehammer Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Lillehammer Giant slalom
Alpine World Ski Championships
Gold medal – first place 1987 Crans Montana Giant slalom
Gold medal – first place 1989 Vail Giant slalom
Gold medal – first place 1991 Saalbach Slalom
Silver medal – second place 1989 Vail Slalom
Silver medal – second place 1989 Vail Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Saalbach Combined
Vreni Schneider at Internationale Sportnacht Davos.

Early life

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Schneider was born in Elm, the daughter of a shoemaker. Her mother died of cancer when Schneider was a teenager: as a result she put her ski career on hold and dropped out of school to look after the family home.[1]

Racing career

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Schneider made her World Cup debut at the age of 20.[1] Schneider won the overall alpine skiing World Cup three times and eleven discipline World Cups in Slalom and Giant slalom, along with 55 World Cup races (number four all-time among women to Moser-Pröll, Vonn and Shiffrin). She also won five medals at the Winter Olympics including 3 golds (Slalom and giant slalom at Calgary in 1988 and Slalom at Lillehammer in 1994), and six medals at the World Championships including 3 more golds (Giant slalom at Crans-Montana in 1987 and Vail in 1989; Slalom at Saalbach in 1991).[2]

During the 1988–89 season she won 14 World Cup races, a record for single season wins that stood until Shiffrin beat that record in the 2018–19 season.

In April 1995, after eleven successful seasons, she announced her retirement. Today she runs a ski and snowboard school in her home village of Elm as well as a sport equipment shop in Glarus.

Vreni Schneider is praised in the Half Man Half Biscuit song 'Uffington Wassail' thus: "Vreni Schneider – you’re my downhill lady! Vreni Schneider – you’re the queen of the slopes!" The song is on the album Trouble Over Bridgwater from the year 2000.

World Cup results

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Season titles

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  Season
Discipline
1986 Giant slalom
1987 Giant slalom
1989 Overall
Slalom
Giant slalom
1990 Slalom
1991 Giant slalom
1992 Slalom
1993 Slalom
1994 Overall
Slalom
1995 Overall
Slalom
Giant slalom

Season standings

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Season
Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom
Super-G Downhill Combined
1985 20 9 22 3 17
1986 21 3 7 1 14 5
1987 22 2 4 1 6 14 2
1988 23 5 2 3 22 5
1989 24 1 1 1 17 3
1990 25 6 1 5 25
1991 26 3 5 1
1992 27 4 1 2
1993 28 6 1 12
1994 29 1 1 2 19 15 5
1995 30 1 1 1 25 23 2

Race victories

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Total Slalom Giant slalom Downhill Super-G Combined Parallel
Wins 55 34 20 0 0 1 0
Podiums 101 47 46 1 2 5 0
Season
Date Location Discipline
1985
2 victories
(2 GS)
17 December 1984   Santa Caterina, Italy Giant slalom
17 March 1985   Waterville Valley, USA Giant slalom
1986
3 victories
(3 GS)
6 January 1986   Maribor, Yugoslavia Giant slalom
19 January 1986   Oberstaufen, Germany Giant slalom
20 March 1986   Waterville Valley, USA Giant slalom
1987
6 victories
(2 SL, 4 GS)
6 December 1986 Giant slalom
17 December 1986   Courmayeur, Italy Slalom
5 January 1987   Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria Giant slalom
13 February 1987   Megève, France Giant slalom
14 February 1987   Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France Slalom
22 March 1987   Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Giant slalom
1988
2 victories
(1 SL, 1 GS)
5 January 1988   Tignes, France Giant slalom
24 January 1988   Bad Gastein, Austria Slalom
1989
14 victories
(7 SL, 6 GS, 1 AC)
28 November 1988   Les Menuires, France Giant slalom
16 December 1988   Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria Slalom
Combined
18 December 1988   Val Zoldana, Italy Giant slalom
20 December 1988   Courmayeur, Italy Slalom
3 January 1989   Maribor, Yugoslavia Slalom
6 January 1989   Schwarzenberg, Austria Giant slalom
7 January 1989 Giant slalom
8 January 1989   Mellau, Austria Slalom
15 January 1989   Grindelwald, Switzerland Slalom
21 January 1989   Tignes, France Giant slalom
3 March 1989   Furano, Japan Slalom
8 March 1989   Shigakogen, Japan Giant slalom
10 March 1989 Slalom
1990
5 victories
(5 SL)
25 November 1989   Park City, USA Slalom
6 January 1990   Piancavallo, Italy Slalom
9 January 1990   Hinterstoder, Austria Slalom
21 January 1990   Maribor, Yugoslavia Slalom
18 March 1990   Åre, Sweden Slalom
1991
3 victories
(1 SL, 2 GS)
11 January 1991   Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia Giant slalom
11 March 1991   Lake Louise, Canada Slalom
17 March 1991   Vail, USA Giant slalom
1992
5 victories
(3 SL, 2 GS)
30 November 1991   Lech, Austria Slalom
8 December 1991   Santa Caterina, Italy Giant slalom
5 January 1992   Oberstaufen, Germany Giant slalom
18 January 1992   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
29 February 1992   Narvik, Norway Slalom
1993
4 victories
(4 SL)
6 January 1993   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
17 January 1993   Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Slalom
19 March 1993   Vemdalen, Sweden Slalom
28 March 1993   Åre, Sweden Slalom
1994
7 victories
(7 SL)
28 November 1993   Santa Caterina, Italy Slalom
19 December 1993   St. Anton, Austria Slalom
9 January 1994   Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria Slalom
23 January 1994   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
5 February 1994   Sierra Nevada, Spain Slalom
10 March 1994   Mammoth Mountain, USA Slalom
20 March 1994   Vail, USA Slalom
1995
4 victories
(4 SL)
27 November 1994   Park City, USA Slalom
18 December 1994   Sestriere, Italy Slalom
26 February 1995   Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
19 March 1995   Bormio, Italy Slalom

World Championship results

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Year
Age Slalom Giant
slalom
Super-G Downhill Combined Team Event
1985 20 12
1987 22 1 4 4
1989 24 2 1 2
1991 26 1 7 3

Olympic results

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Year
Age Slalom Giant
slalom
Super-G Downhill Combined Team Event
1988 23 1 1 DNF2
1992 27 7 DNF1
1994 29 1 3 33 2

References

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  1. ^ a b Johnson, William Oscar (27 January 1988). "Smooth as Clockwork". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Vreni Schneider". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
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