Johann Grugger

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Hans Grugger
Personal information
Full nameJohann Grugger
Born (1981-12-13) 13 December 1981 (age 43)
Bad Hofgastein, Austria
Occupation Alpine skier
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Skiing career
Disciplines Downhill, Super-G
ClubWSV Bad Hofgastein
World Cup debut29 November 2003
(age 21)
Website grugger.at
Olympics
Teams1 – 2010
Medals0
World Championships
Teams2 – (2005, 2007)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons6 – (2004-2011)
Wins4 – (2 DH, 2 SG)
Podiums9 – (7 DH, 2 SG)
Overall titles0 – (10th – 2005)
Discipline titles0 – (5th – 2005, downhill)

Johann "Hans" Grugger (born 13 December 1981 in Bad Hofgastein, Austria) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer, competing in the speed disciplines of downhill and super-G. He made his World Cup debut on 29 November 2003, in the downhill at Lake Louise, and finished seventh. He won his first World Cup race in Bormio, Italy on 29 December, 2004. Exactly one year later at Bormio, he crashed and had to drop out of the season due to the acquired injuries. However, he managed to come back to reach podium positions in 2007, including a victory in the super-G at Kvitfjell, Norway.

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Grugger made his first Olympic team in 2010 in Vancouver and finished 22nd in the downhill at Whistler Creekside.

On 20 January 2011, Grugger crashed during a downhill training run at Kitzbühel and suffered a serious head injury. He was airlifted to Innsbruck and placed into an induced coma. [1] Grugger suffered a severe head trauma by crashing head-first onto the ski piste after a long jump. On 18 March 2011 he left the rehab clinic two months earlier due to his fast recovery progress. He says he will be skiing again, but it is uncertain whether he will ever ski again competitively. [2] Grugger's accident triggered discussions over safety in downhill skiing. In April 2012 at the age of 30, he announced that he would retire and not continue to pursue his comeback.

World Cup podiums

SeasonDateLocationRacePlace
2004 14 Feb 2004 St. Anton, Austria Downhill 3rd
2005 18 Dec 2004 Val Gardena, ItalyDownhill3rd
29 Dec 2004 Bormio, ItalyDownhill1st
8 Jan 2005 Chamonix, FranceDownhill1st
2006 2 Dec 2005 Beaver Creek, CO, USDownhill3rd
10 Dec 2005 Val d'Isère, FranceDownhill3rd
16 Dec 2005Val Gardena, Italy Super-G 1st
2007 23 Feb 2007 Garmisch, GermanyDownhill2nd
11 Mar 2007 Kvitfjell, NorwaySuper-G1st

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom
Super-GDownhillCombined
2004 22283314
2005 2310175
2006 24311214
2007 25301219
2008 26injured
2009 27
2010 28504411
2011 29964734

References

  1. Universal Sports – 2011-01-21
  2. "DerStandard.at".