Skier Nationalities Trivia Quiz

Answer: Italy

Born in Trafoi, Italy in 1951, Gustavo Thoeni was most successful at slalom and giant slalom racing, though he also did well in downhill and combined events. He won the overall season-long World Cup championship multiple times in the 1970s, scoring most of his points in slalom and giant slalom.

At the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, he won gold in the giant slalom and silver in the slalom. He repeated the slalom silver four years later at Innsbruck, Austria.

Answer: Italy

Isolde Kostner was born in Bolzano, Italy in 1975. She was the World Cup season winner in Women's Downhill in 2001 and 2002. During her career she had 12 downhill victories and three in Super-G races. She won bronze medals in those two disciplines in 1994 at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and a silver at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

Answer: France

Jean-Claude Killy was born in St Cloud, France in 1943. He won the overall World Cup season long competition in 1967 and 1968, as well as four discipline titles in his career. He also captured all three (downhill, GS and slalom) Alpine Olympic gold medals in 1968 at Grenoble, France. After retiring in 1968 he appeared in a number of movies, often as himself.

Answer: Canada

Steve Podborski was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1957. He gained fame as one of the "Crazy Canucks" of the 1970s and '80s, alongside others like Ken Read and Dave Irwin. Podborski won a bronze medal in the Men's Downhill at the Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, NY in 1980. Two years later he won the World Cup season title in downhill racing, the first North American to do so.

His accolades include being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982, entry in various Canadian and Ontario halls of fame, and joint recognition with the other Crazy Canucks on Canada's Walk of Fame.

Answer: Austria

Born in 1995 in Villach, Austria, Marco Schwarz made his World Cup debut in 2014. Specialising in slalom and giant slalom, in 2021 he won the slalom discipline title, and placed third in the overall competition.

Answer: Austria

Born in Zams, Austria in 1979, Mario Matt has had a lengthy career, spanning 1999 through 2015 when he retired aged 35. In 2014, at the Olympics in Sochi, he won gold in the slalom, one of the oldest men to ever do so. He had a total of 15 race victories in the World Cup, mostly slaloms.

Answer: Switzerland

Sonja Nef was born in Heiden, Switzerland in 1972. She was World Champion in giant slalom in 2001, and won the World Cup in that discipline in 2001 and 2002. She won a bronze medal in the same discipline in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Answer: Switzerland

Born in Wolfenschiessen, Switzerland in 1962, Erika Hess made her World Cup debut in 1978. Erika won overall World Cup 1982 and 1984. She won a total of 31 races (21 slalom, 6 GS, 4 combined), and she was triple gold medallist at the World Championship in Schladming 1982. She also won Olympic bronze in the slalom at Lake Placid in 1980.

Answer: Switzerland

Michela Figini was born in Prato, Switzerland in 1966. In 1985 at the age of 19, Figini won her first overall World Cup, winning again in 1988. She also won an Olympic gold in the downhill at Sarajevo in 1984 and silver in super G in Calgary, 1988. Michela gave up skiing at the age of only 24, in 1990.

Answer: Canada

Nancy Greene was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1943. She has won the overall World Cup in 1967 and 1968, and also the giant slalom competition in those years. Nancy had a total of 14 victories in World Cup races (3 downhill, 8 giant slalom, 3 slalom).

She won Olympic gold at Grenoble (1968) in the giant slalom, and silver in the slalom. She married Al Raine in 1969 and one of their sons, Willy Raine, competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in slalom, giant slalom and super G. Nancy Greene Raine has been a Canadian senator representing British Columbia, and her name was added to Canada's Walk of Fame in 1999.

In that same year, she was named Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century.

Answer: Austria

Meissnitzer was born in Abtenau, Salzburg, Austria in 1973, and she specialised in the "speed" type of race during her career (downhill, super G and giant slalom). She won the overall World Cup title in 1999, as well as the super G and giant slalom titles the same year.

At the Winter Olympics, she won silver in giant slalom and bronze in super G at Nagano in 1998, and a super G bronze in Turin in 2006.

Answer: Canada

Erik Guay was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1981. He won the World Cup super G title in 2010. At the World Championships, he won gold in the downhill in 2011, and in 2017 won gold in the super G and silver in downhill. After suffering some injuries, he retired toward the end of the 2018 season.

Answer: France

Tessa Worley was born in Annemasse, France in 1989, to a French mother and Australian father. She won the World Cup season title in giant slalom in 2017 and 2022. She has been most successful in that discipline, whilst also participating in super G and combined. She was French Sportswoman of the Year in 2017.

Answer: France

Born in Albertville, France in 1965, Franck Piccard became the first French athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal since Jean-Claude Killy in 1968, when he triumphed in the super G in Calgary in 1988. He took bronze in the downhill at those same Olympics, following up in his home town four years later with silver in the downhill. Several members of the Piccard family have competed in alpine skiing over the years.

Answer: Italy

Known as "Tomba la Bomba", Alberto was born in San Lazzaro di Savena, Italy in 1966. He specialised in the technical disciplines of slalom, giant slalom and super G during his thirteen active seasons, winning four giant slalom and four slalom World Cup titles, plus the overall World Cup title in 1995.

He won Olympic gold in the slalom and giant slalom in Calgary, repeating the latter victory in Albertville in 1992. He also had three silver medals from the Olympics.