oho #3 - The magazine of the Principality of Liechtenstein

Environment/Leisure
oho#3
So she swapped her office job and computer work for life in the
fresh outdoors, for snow and skis. This was greatly to the regret of
her father Harti Weirather, incidentally, who had been
encouraging her to retire from the sport. He still has uneasy
feelings when watching his daughter’s career. “As the father of a
daughter, you would prefer your precious child to be safely
wrapped up in cotton wool from start to finish. Or you would
prefer her to pursue cross-country skiing.”
Like mother, like daughter
For Tina Weirather, however, cross-country skiing was never going
to be an option. She originally wanted to become a journalist. Plan
A, though, had always been professional skier. Until she reached
the age of eleven, she played tennis regularly during the summer
months, trained by Melanie Molitor, the mother of the star Swiss
player Martina Hingis. But then two different sports became too
much to manage, and she decided to concentrate on skiing alone.
Her mother, Hanni Wenzel, accepted her daughter’s decision: “I
endeavoured, first and foremost, to pass my own passion for sport
on to my children.” In this she certainly succeeded. In addition,
she also eased the immense pressure on her daughter, who was
following in the huge footsteps of her parents. “From the outset, I
wanted to ensure that Tina could develop her own personality. As
the daughter of Hanni and Harti, she had been under pressure and
close observation from her earliest childhood – this was
unpleasant. For this reason, we frequently told her: “Irrespective
of who we are, you are you. Your own needs are paramount, not
ours.” Tina states that she does not feel any pressure. Quite the
contrary: “I am proud of my parents, and happy to have people
with so much experience around me.”
Even if the saying “like mother, like daughter” applies to Hanni
and Tina in many ways, they have very different natures. While
Hanni was an introverted athlete, Tina is a real team player, feels
completely at ease in a team, and has a number of close friends in
the ski circus. These include Anna Veith (formerly Fenninger) and
Lara Gut, her direct rivals when it comes to World Cup victories
and medals. But unlike Fenninger, Gut or US superstar Lindsey
Vonn, Tina Weirather is not an athlete who polarises and supplies
the media with material for sensational stories. “I am perhaps a
little boring,” she laughs. She doesn’t insult people, nor is she
envious of their successes.
Drawing up level with her father
Whereby she has no need to be envious. For Tina Weirather has
achieved a great many successes of her own. In the 2011/12
season she was the world’s second-best downhill racer, after
Lindsey Vonn. On 1 March 2013 she celebrated her first World Cup
victory at the Super G event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and was
the first daughter of a former World Cup winner to follow in the
footsteps of her mother and win a World Cup of her own. During
the following season, Weirather confirmed her top form in the
speed disciplines, and also became one of the world’s top
Her Super-G victory at the World Cup final in St. Moritz was Tina Weirather’s
sixth, causing her to draw level with her father Harti Weirather. Photo: GEPA
Pictures/Harald Steiner
performers in the giant slalom. As a reward for the triumph in the
giant slalom at Val d’Isère, she actually led the overall World Cup
rankings for a whole week. This was followed by her victory in the
downhill event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in March 2015, and her
success in the Super-G of La Thuille in February 2016. At the
World Cup final in St. Moritz in mid-March 2016, Tina Weirather
triumphed in the Super-G. This was her sixth World Cup victory,
causing her to draw level with her father Harti Weirather. At the
same time, she passed the magic 1,000 point mark by coming
fourth in the Overall World Cup, and is carrying the hopes of
many ski fans that Tina will one day secure the top prize for the
small Principality – just like her mother
Hanni Wenzel did in her own day.
Tina Weirather
Born: 24 May 1989
Place of birth: Vaduz
Club: SC Schaan
World Cup debut:
22 December 2005
World Cup victories: 6
Overall World Cup: 4 th (2015/16)
Downhill World Cup: 2 nd (2011/12)
Super-G World Cup: 2 nd (2015/16)
Other victories: RTL Giant Slalom Junior World
Champion 2006, Downhill Junior World Champion 2007
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