Hanni Wenzel

Hanni Wenzel, born on December 14, 1956, is a retired Liechtensteiner alpine ski racer. She became very successful in her sport and won many big races, including Olympic, World Cup, and world champion titles.

Wenzel made history for her country by winning Liechtenstein's first-ever Olympic medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. She won again four years later, earning Liechtenstein's first two Olympic gold medals at the games in Lake Placid, New York.

Her amazing skills and determination made her a proud representative for Liechtenstein in winter sports.

Biography

Hanni Wenzel was born in West Germany and moved to Liechtenstein when she was young. She and her brother Andreas became great ski racers. Hanni won her first big title at the 1974 World Championships, where she got gold in slalom and silver in another race.

At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Hanni won Liechtenstein’s first Olympic medal, a bronze. Her best year was in 1980, when she won two gold medals at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and also got a silver medal. Later, her daughter Tina Weirather won a bronze medal for Liechtenstein at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

World cup results

Hanni Wenzel won many races during her skiing career. She earned 7 big titles, including 2 overall titles, 2 in giant slalom, 1 in slalom, and 2 in combined events.

She had 33 race wins and stood on the podium 89 times in total. These wins were in slalom, giant slalom, downhill, and combined races.

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1974	19 Dec 1973	Zell am See, Austria	Giant slalom
1975	21 Feb 1975	Naeba, Japan	Slalom
	14 Mar 1975	Sun Valley, USA	Slalom
1977	19 Jan 1977	Schruns, Austria	Combined
1978	15 Dec 1977	Madonna di Campiglio, Italy	Giant slalom
	10 Jan 1978	Les Mosses, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	22 Jan 1978	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
	24 Jan 1978	Berchtesgaden, West Germany	Slalom
	25 Jan 1978		Slalom
	2 Mar 1978	Stratton Mountain, USA	Giant slalom
1979	12 Dec 1978	Piancavallo, Italy	Giant slalom
	3 Feb 1979	Pfronten, West Germany	Slalom
	4 Feb 1979		Combined
	8 Feb 1979	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
1980	8 Dec 1979	Limone Piemonte, Italy	Giant slalom
	14 Dec 1979		Combined
	10 Jan 1980	Berchtesgaden, West Germany	Giant slalom
	16 Jan 1980	Arosa, Switzerland	Giant slalom
	21 Jan 1980	Bad Gastein, Austria	Slalom
			Combined
	23 Jan 1980	Maribor, Yugoslavia	Slalom
	26 Jan 1980	Saint-Gervais, France	Giant slalom
	1980 Winter Olympics
	25 Feb 1980	Waterville Valley, USA	Giant slalom
1981	27 Jan 1981	Les Gets, France	Combined
	8 Feb 1981	Zwiesel, West Germany	Combined
1982	12 Dec 1981	Piancavallo, Italy	Combined
	18 Mar 1982	Furano, Japan	Giant slalom
1983	30 Jan 1983	Les Diablerets, Switzerland	Combined
1984	21 Dec 1983	Haus im Ennstal, Austria	Downhill
	22 Dec 1983		Giant slalom
	14 Jan 1984	Bad Gastein, Austria	Downhill
	15 Jan 1984		Combined
	20 Mar 1984	Zwiesel, West Germany	Slalom

World Championship results

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing. During this time, from 1954 through 1980, the combined event used the results from three other events.

Olympic results

Hanni Wenzel and Ingemar Stenmark could not compete in the 1984 Olympics because they earned money from endorsements.

Family

Hanni Wenzel’s family is closely connected to skiing. Her sister Petra Wenzel and brother Andreas Wenzel were also great ski racers. Her husband Harti Weirather was a world champion in downhill skiing in 1982. Hanni and Harti run a sports marketing agency together. Their daughter Tina Weirather is also a successful World Cup ski racer.

Honours

Hanni Wenzel received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein on September 6, 2017, for her success in skiing.