Maria RIESCH |
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The Golden Girl of German skiing is set to finally realise her enormous potential, having taken the titles in superG and supercombined to claim a more-than-satisfactory third-place finish overall in the 2007/'8 season backed up by an overwhelming dominance of the slalom discipline in the 2008/09 winter and finishing second overall that year. A prodigious talent as a junior between 2001 and 2003, where she won seven medals in all the disciplines at the junior World Championships including three golden in combined and Super-G, the Garmisch Partenkirchen native was without doubt one of the rising stars on the scene.
Lofty predictions were made on the back of her overall success in the 2002 Europacup standings and it seemed only a matter of time before she would become the dominant force in the sport. Her stellar climb continued as the careers of German legends Martina Ertl-Renz and Hilde Gerg began to wind down.
A promising debut season in 2003, at the age of 18, resulted in an impressive fifth-placed finish in the combined at the World Championships in St. Moritz – the best of her compatriots in any discipline. A new team leader was born in the 2004 season as she opened the season by recording the best training times at Lake Louise in Canada and then going on to gain a credible top-ten placing in the downhill and a 12th spot in the Super G.
Those promising results were but the forerunner to a return to the happy-hunting ground of St. Moritz, just before Christmas, for her first podium finish when she came in third in a high-quality downhill field. Better was to follow at the turn of the year when this time she took second place in the downhill at Cortina d'Ampezzo where she also clocked the fastest time in training.
Everything finally came together at Haus im Ennstal in Austria in her first major breakthrough where she dominated to finished first in the downhill. Still technically a junior, she ran rough-shod over the opposition at the World Championships to stand proudly on top of the podium in the downhill and GS before returning to the seniors to win the slalom at Levi in Finland. A second place in the SG in Sestriere, Italy brought the season to an awarding conclusion.
Unfortunately, two knee injuries stalled her rise in 2005 and 2006, preventing her from competing at her best. However, a single win at Lake Louise in December 2006 more than proved that she had not lost her great feeling for smooth, high speed turns, yet she had to wait for the beginning of the 2008 season to be more relaxed and fully get back her determination as an all-rounder.
She said: “I don’t think about my injuries anymore and I am not worried when I’m skiing. I’m not scared at all anymore and so it’s nearly the same as four years before just that I’m four years older.”
And so it proved as the tour finally brought its just rewards for all her hard work in the 2008 season. A win Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Super G was followed by a third place at Sestriere in the same event. Her impressive consistency allowed her to enter the exclusive group of top-favorites for the overall World Cup standings alongside her great friend Lindsey Vonn and Austria's Nicole Hosp, the defending overall champion.
She had to settle for third overall in the end but managed to another win in the combined, this time at Whistler in Canada.
This brought her globes in the individual SG and KB. 2009 was just as impressive for the tall German. With Marlies Schild out for the season, Riesch took it upon herself to completely dominate the slalom discipline, winning four races in a row in the mid-season. She also took gold in the World Championships in Val d'Isère after some disappointing results in the other disciplines. Only Lindsey Vonn was able to keep up with her for a while on the World Cup circuit but the Crystal Globe was a certainty before the final race of the season. Three globes in two seasons and second place in the overall standings behind Vonn have placed her amongst the top female athletes of her generation. The gregarious Bavarian will be a serious contender for the big crystal globe for many years to come alongside her friend and foe, Lindsey Vonn!
One of the tallest skiers on the circuit, she first strapped on a pair of skies at the tender age of three and joined her first club two years later. As we have seen, talent allied to a strong work ethic will bring its rewards whatever obstacles are thrown in the way and the rich Reisch family tradition on the slopes continues, with Maria’s younger sister Susanne also looking to follow in her footsteps.