Anna Schaffelhuber

Anna Schaffelhuber
Personal information
Full nameAnna Katharina Schaffelhuber
NationalityGerman
Born (1993-01-26) 26 January 1993 (age 31)
Regensburg, Germany
Height1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
Sport
SportPara-alpine skiing
ClubTSV Bayerbach
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Paralympic Games 7 1 1
World Championships 9 7 3
Total 16 8 4
Women's Alpine skiing
Representing  Germany
Winter Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Downhill
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Super-G
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Combined
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sochi Giant slalom
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang Downhill
Gold medal – first place 2018 Pyeongchang Super-G
Silver medal – second place 2018 Pyeongchang Super combined
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Vancouver Super-G
IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Sestriere Super combined
Gold medal – first place 2011 Sestriere Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2011 Sestriere Giant slalom
Gold medal – first place 2013 La Molina Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2015 Panorama Super-G
Gold medal – first place 2015 Panorama Giant slalom
Gold medal – first place 2017 Tarvisio Downhill
Gold medal – first place 2017 Tarvisio Slalom
Gold medal – first place 2017 Tarvisio Super combined
Silver medal – second place 2011 Sestriere Team event
Silver medal – second place 2013 La Molina Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 2013 La Molina Super-G
Silver medal – second place 2015 Panorama Slalom
Silver medal – second place 2015 Panorama Super combined
Silver medal – second place 2017 Tarvisio Giant slalom
Silver medal – second place 2017 Tarvisio Super-G
Bronze medal – third place 2013 La Molina Downhill
Bronze medal – third place 2013 La Molina Super combined
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Panorama Downhill
Schaffelhuber on the podium at an event in Austria

Anna Katharina Schaffelhuber (born 26 January 1993) is a German para-alpine skier.[1] At the 2014 Winter Paralympics she won five gold medals, becoming only the second athlete to sweep the alpine skiing events.

Early life

Schaffelhuber was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. She was born with an incomplete spinal cord and as a result has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair.[2][3] She began monoskiing at age five and at age fourteen received a scholarship to join a national junior skiing programme.[4][5]

Career

Schaffelhuber competes in the LW10 para-alpine skiing classification using a sitting mono-ski and outriggers.[5]

She was selected for the German team at the 2010 Winter Paralympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where she competed in four events. She won the bronze medal in the super-G finishing behind Claudia Lösch of Austria and American Alana Nichols in a time of 1 minute 38.25 seconds.[6] She also finished fourth in two events, the super combined and the slalom, and seventh in the giant slalom.[5] During the closing ceremony of the Games she carried the German flag.[3]

She skied at the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, held in Sestriere, Italy. She won the three gold medals, in the sitting women's super-combined, slalom and giant slalom, a silver in the team event, as well as finishing fourth in both the downhill and super-G.[5][7]

At the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships held in La Molina, Spain, she successfully defended her title in the slalom, winning the gold medal in a time of 2 minutes 26.18 seconds. She won four other medals; silver medals in the giant slalom and super-G; and bronze medals in the super combined and downhill.[5]

She competed in her second Paralympics at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. She claimed her first Paralympic gold medal by winning the sitting downhill in a time of 1 minute 35.55 seconds.[5][8][9] She won a second gold medal in the super-G, finishing first in a time of 1 minute 29.11 seconds.[5][10][11] Competing in the slalom she was initially disqualified for not having her outriggers in a stationary position at the start of her first run and compatriot Anna-Lena Forster was identified as the gold medal winner in press releases.[12][13] Following an appeal Schaffelhuber was reinstated and awarded her third gold medal of the Games with Forster winning the silver medal.[5][14] Schaffelhuber won a fourth gold medal in the combined, with Forster again taking silver as the two German skiers were the only athletes to complete the race.[15][16][17] She won her fifth gold medal, completing a clean sweep in the sitting events, by winning the giant slalom in a combined time of 2 minutes 51.26 seconds. She became the second athlete to sweep the alpine skiing events after Lauren Woolstencroft in 2010.[5][18][19][20] For her performance at the Games, Schaffelhuber was awarded Best Female at the Paralympic Sports Awards.[21]

Awards

In November 2010 Schaffelhuber was voted the International Paralympic Committee's athlete of the month, taking 45% of the public vote.[2] In November 2011 she was named Germany's Disabled Athlete of the Year and she was the German National Paralympic Committee's 2013 Female Disabled Athlete of Year.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Anna Schaffelhuber (Ski Alpin)" (in German). sporthilfe. 2010. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Anna Schaffelhuber - Athlete of the Month November 2010". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Anna Schaffelhuber Alpine Skiing". Channel4. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. ^ Beate Schaffelhuber (10 March 2010). "Anna Schaffelhuber – mein Weg – meine Ziele". Konzepte für Barrierefreiheit. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "SCHAFFELHUBER Anna". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing Women's Super-G sitting". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Historical Results". Germany: International Paralympic Committee Alpine skiing. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Andrea Eskau and Anna Schaffelhuber win gold for Germany in Sochi Paralympics". Deutsche Welle. 8 March 2014. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Paralympics: Germany's Schaffelhuber Wins Downhill Skiing Gold". RIA Novosti. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Schaffelhuber wins second Paralympic gold". Deutsche Welle. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Skier Schaffelhuber Takes Gold for Germany in Sitting Super-G". The Moscow Times. RIA Novosti. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Kimberly Joines to take bronze in slalom, not silver". CBC Sports. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Germany's Forster Skis to Paralympic Slalom Gold". Ria Novosti. 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Schaffelhuber awarded gold after successful slalom appeal". International Paralympic Committee. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  15. ^ "Etherington wins historic silver". Channel4. 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games Alpine Skiing Women's Super Combined sitting". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  17. ^ "Schaffelhuber Races to 4th Paralympic Gold in Super Combined". RIA Novosti. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  18. ^ Hicks, Brandon (16 March 2014). "Kimberly Joines crashes out of Giant Slalom". CBC Sports. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  19. ^ "Anna Schaffelhuber completes quest for five golds". International Paralympic Committee. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  20. ^ "Sochi Paralympics: British pair miss out on skiing medals". BBC Sport. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  21. ^ "2015 Paralympic Award winners announced". International Paralympic Committee. 14 November 2015.