Katja Seizinger

Germany's most successful alpine skier, who became the first skier of either gender to win consecutive Olympic downhill gold medals.

Katja Seizinger was born on 10 May 1972 in Datteln, in Germany's industrial Ruhr region, an unusual background for a skier since she learned on family vacations near Albertville, France, rather than in the Bavarian Alps. She made her Olympic debut at the 1992 Albertville Games at 19, winning bronze in the super-G, before claiming her first gold in the downhill at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and being named Germany's Sportswoman of the Year. Seizinger dominated the mid-1990s in speed events, winning World Cup downhill titles in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and super-G titles in 1993, 1994 and 1995, along with overall World Cup titles in 1996 and 1998. At the 1998 Nagano Olympics, she defended her downhill title, becoming the first skier in history, male or female, to win consecutive Olympic downhill golds, and added a second gold in the combined the following day plus bronze in the giant slalom. Seizinger's three Olympic gold medals matched Vreni Schneider as the most by any woman in Olympic alpine skiing history at the time. She suffered serious knee injuries in training in June 1998 that forced her to miss the entire 1999 season, and retired that April with 11 World Cup season titles across her career, going on to lead the supervisory boards of two German steel companies.

Fast, technically composed downhill and super-G specialist renowned for consistency under pressure in the sport's highest-stakes races

Regarded as Germany's greatest alpine skier ever, remembered for her dominance in speed events during the mid-1990s

• 3x Olympic Gold Medalist (1994, 1998 x2)
• First skier (male or female) to win consecutive Olympic downhill golds
• 2x Overall World Cup Champion (1996, 1998)
• 11 World Cup season titles across her career