Stephan EBERHARTER of Austria receives the gold medal in the men's giant slalom at the Olympic Medals Plaza. Credit: Getty Images/Shaun Botterill
Other names: EBERHARTER, Stefan
Born: 24 August 1969
Birthplace: Brixlegg
Nationality: Austria
Sport: Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Albertville 1992
Nagano 1998
Salt Lake City 2002
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 1
Silver: 2
Bronze: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 3 (91, 03)
Silver: 1 (01)
Long Wait For Gold
The future looked rosy for 21-year-old Stephan Eberharter when he won two gold medals at the 1991 world championships. However, a series of injuries sent his career into a nosedive. Although he competed at the 1992 Winter Games, he missed the 1994 Olympics and did not enter a World Cup race for two years. Eberharter successfully regained his form and earned a silver medal in the giant slalom at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Although he skied well over the next three seasons, Eberharter saved his best for 2002, when, at the age of 32, he won a complete set of medals at the Salt Lake City Games. He began with a third place finish in the downhill and then earned a silver in the super-G, trailing Kjetil André Aamodt by only one tenth of a second. Finally, Eberharter score a decisive victory in the giant slalom, defeating Bode Miller by 88 hundredths of a second.