Born in Lustenau, Austria, on July 18, 1963, Marc Girardelli is a five-time Alpine Ski World Cup overall champion (1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, and 1993). Girardelli won 46 World Cup races (fifth-most of all time among men) in all five alpine disciplines (Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Downhill, and Combined) and recorded 100 podiums.
Marc Girardelli won eleven Alpine World Ski Championship medals, including four golds in Slalom at Saalbach in 1991, and in the Combined at Crans-Montana in 1987, Vail in 1989, and Sierra Nevada in 1996. He also won four silver, and three bronze medals at the Alpine World Ski Championships between 1985 and 1996.
Because Girardelli retained Austrian citizenship while skiing in the Alpine Ski World Cup for Luxembourg, he was ineligible to compete in the 1980 or 1984 Olympic Winter Games held in Lake Placid and Sarajevo- but also to compete in the 1982 Alpine World Ski Championships held in Schladming, Austria.
In 1985, in Bormio, Italy, he won his first two medals at the Alpine World Ski Championships. The FIS granted her a special permit because he could prove that he was in the process of obtaining Luxembourg citizenship and he won a silver medal in Slalom and a bronze in Giant Slalom.
Marc Girardelli received Luxembourg citizenship in time to compete in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1987 held in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. He won three medals, a gold in the Combined, and two silver in Super-G, and Giant Slalom.
Two years later, at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships held in Vail, Colorado, in 1989, he successfully defended his title in the Combined adding a bronze medal in Slalom on the last day of the Championships.
At the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1991 held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Marc Girardelli won his third gold medal, this time in the Slalom discipline.
The 1993 Alpine World Ski Championships were held at the Shizukuishi ski area, northwest of Morioka, Japan. Girardelli added there two more medals to his record, a bronze in the Combined, and a silver in Slalom.
In 1996, in Sierra Nevada ski resort, near Granada, Spain, in his last participation in the Alpine World Ski Championships, Marc Girardelli won a fourth gold medal, the third one in the Combined.
His last World Cup race was in the Downhill race in Val Gardena on December 20, 1996. Despite he had announced his intention to start the next day in another Downhill, he didn't start because he suffered a new knee injury. After failing to start in the following races, he announced his retirement from international competition in January 1997 at age 33.
Marc Girardelli Statistics
Olympic Winter Games Starts: 12
Olympic Winter Games Medals: 2
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Starts: 21
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Podiums: 11
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Victories: 4
FIS World Cup Starts: 331
FIS World Cup Podiums: 100
FIS World Cup Victories: 46
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