Benjamin Raich
Benjamin Raich (born 28 February 1978 in Arzl im Pitztal, Tyrol) is a retired champion World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Austria. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories (in all disciplines except downhill), one first place and five second places in the World Cup overall ranking, three victories of the slalom World Cup, three victories of the combined World Cup, two victories of the giant slalom World Cup and the highest score of career World Cup points (ahead of Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt), he is considered among the best alpine racers in World Cup history.
| Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_(cropped).jpg.webp) Raich in March 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Slalom, giant slalom, combined, super-G, downhill | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Club | S.V. Leins Pitztal – Tirol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 February 1978 Arzl im Pitztal, Tyrol, Austria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | 10 March 1996 (age 18) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 10 September 2015 (age 37) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Raich.at | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 (2002–2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 4 (2 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 9 (1999–2015) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 10 (3 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 18 (1998–2015) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 36 (14 SL, 14 GS, 1 SG, 7 AC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 92 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 1 (2006) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 8 (3 SL, 2 GS, 3 AC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
After winning Junior World Championships in both slalom and giant slalom, Raich made his World Cup debut in March 1996. He scored his first victory in 1999, in slalom.
In 2001 he won the silver medal in slalom at the World Championships, and at the end of the season he won the slalom World Cup. In 2002 he won two bronze medals at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
Raich, who became better at faster specialities such as super-G and downhill with age also, in 2005 barely missed out on the overall World Cup title, placing second to American Bode Miller. At the 2005 World Championships he won a total of five medals, one for each race except for the downhill.
He won the 2006 World Cup overall title in the most successful season of his career, as well as Olympic gold medals in slalom and giant slalom at the Turin Olympics.
Throughout his career Raich has been known for his consistency which led to him to second places in the overall world cup in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (narrowly missing out the titles in both 2007 and 2009 by 13 points and 2 points respectively, both times behind Svindal).
His last World Cup race victory came in February 2012 in Swiss Crans Montana, where he won his first and only World Cup victory in super-G. In March 2014, he reached the podium for the first time in more than two years by finishing second (after Ted Ligety) in a giant slalom race in Kranjska Gora, the same place where he also won his first top-3 result more than 15 years earlier (in January 1999). His last top three finish came in early March 2015 in a giant slalom race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen that came to be one of his final races in the alpine world cup.
On September 10, 2015, he announced his retirement.
World Cup results
Season standings
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 20 | 96 | — | 37 | — | — | — |
| 1999 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 32 | — | — |
| 2000 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 2001 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 2002 | 24 | 9 | 19 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 2003 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 37 | — | — |
| 2004 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 2 |
| 2005 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 26 | 1 |
| 2006 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 28 | 1 |
| 2007 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 32 | 5 |
| 2008 | 30 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 36 | 6 |
| 2009 | 31 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 32 | 5 |
| 2010 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | — | 1 |
| 2011 | 33 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 8 | 54 | 18 |
| 2012 | 34 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 31 | 12 |
| 2013 | 35 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 38 | — | 8 |
| 2014 | 36 | 20 | 17 | 6 | — | — | — |
| 2015 | 37 | 28 | 23 | 9 | — | — | — |
Season titles
9 titles: 1 overall, 2 giant slalom, 3 slalom, 3 combined
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Slalom |
| 2005 | Giant slalom |
| Slalom | |
| Combined | |
| 2006 | Overall |
| Giant slalom | |
| Combined | |
| 2007 | Slalom |
| 2010 | Combined |
Individual races
36 total: 14 slalom, 14 giant slalom, 1 super-G, 7 combined
| Season | Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 January 1999 | Schladming, Austria | Slalom |
| 10 January 1999 | Flachau, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 17 January 1999 | Wengen, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 2000 | 26 February 2000 | Yongpyong, South Korea | Giant slalom |
| 18 March 2000 | Bormio, Italy | Giant slalom | |
| 2001 | 14 January 2001 | Wengen, Switzerland | Slalom |
| 21 January 2001 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Slalom | |
| 23 January 2001 | Schladming, Austria | Slalom | |
| 11 March 2001 | Åre, Sweden | Slalom | |
| 2002 | 21 December 2001 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Giant slalom |
| 2004 | 3 January 2004 | Flachau, Austria | Giant slalom |
| 18 January 2004 | Wengen, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 27 January 2004 | Schladming, Austria | Slalom | |
| 2005 | 5 December 2004 | Beaver Creek, CO, USA | Slalom |
| 14 January 2005 | Wengen, Switzerland | Combined | |
| 2005 World Championships | |||
| 26 February 2005 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Giant slalom | |
| 2006 | 21 December 2005 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Giant slalom |
| 7 January 2006 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 13 January 2006 | Wengen, Switzerland | Super combined | |
| 22 January 2006 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Combined | |
| 3 February 2006 | Chamonix, France | Super combined | |
| 2006 Winter Olympics | |||
| 10 March 2006 | Shiga Kōgen, Japan | Slalom | |
| 17 March 2006 | Åre, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 2007 | 12 November 2006 | Levi, Finland | Slalom |
| 6 January 2007 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 23 January 2007 | Schladming, Austria | Slalom | |
| 2007 World Championships | |||
| 3 March 2007 | Kranjska Gora, Slovenia | Giant slalom | |
| 9 March 2007 | Kvitfjell, Norway | Super combined | |
| 18 March 2007 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Slalom | |
| 2008 | 9 December 2007 | Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria | Slalom |
| 2009 | 7 December 2008 | Beaver Creek, CO, USA | Giant slalom |
| 12 December 2008 | Val-d'Isère, France | Super combined | |
| 10 January 2009 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom | |
| 13 March 2009 | Åre, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 2010 | 11 December 2009 | Val-d'Isère, France | Super combined |
| 2012 | 25 February 2012 | Crans Montana, Switzerland | Super-G |
World Championship results
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined | Team event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 20 | 5 | DNF2 | — | — | — | not run |
| 2001 | 22 | 2 | DNF2 | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | 24 | 4 | 9 | — | — | — | |
| 2005 | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | — | 1 | 2 |
| 2007 | 28 | 4 | DNF1 | — | — | 2 | 1 |
| 2009 | 30 | DSQ2 | 2 | 5 | — | DNF1 | cancelled |
| 2011 | 32 | — | — | 4 | — | 5 | 2 |
| 2013 | 34 | 13 | 9 | — | — | DNF2 | — |
| 2015 | 36 | DNF1 | DNF1 | — | — | — | — |
Olympic results 
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 23 | 3 | 4 | — | — | 3 |
| 2006 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 21 | — | DNF |
| 2010 | 31 | 4 | 6 | 14 | — | 6 |
| 2014 | 35 | DNF1 | 7 | — | — | — |
Personal
His sister Carina Raich also is a ski racer. Benjamin Raich is married to skier Marlies Schild. They have three children together.
External links
- Benjamin Raich at the International Ski Federation
- Benjamin Raich World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Benjamin Raich at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Benjamin Raich at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Official website
- Austrian Ski team – official site – Benjamin Raich – (in German)
- Atomic Skis – athletes – Benjamin Raich
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Georg Totschnig |
Austrian Sportsman of the year 2006 |
Succeeded by Thomas Vanek |
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