January 29, 2008

January 29 | Ulrike Maier

October 22, 1967 - January 29, 1994: Age 26

Ulrike Maier was a two-time Super Giant Slalom World Alpine Ski champion. She on in 1989 and in 1991. She scored five World Cup race victories in her career.

During another World Cup downhill race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, her right ski hit a patch of soft snow. She lost her balance and flipped around, her head crashing into a timing post. Her helmet flew off, she tumbled over several times and was hit by a ski that had snapped free.

She was flown by helicopter to a hospital 15 miles east but they were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead two and a half hours after the accident. She had planned to retire at the end of the season and marry the father of her 4-year-old daughter in the fall.

Sources: Wikipedia, The New York Times

No comments: