Frieda Dänzer (16 November 1930 – 21 January 2015) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

Alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

, successful in the second half of the 1950s. At the 1956 Winter Olympics, she won silver in the downhill event. At

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

in 1958, she became world champion in

Alpine Combined Combined is an event in Alpine skiing, alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of Downhill (ski competition), downhill and two runs of Sl ...

and won the silver medal in downhill and bronze in giant slalom. She was born in

Adelboden Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the Bernese Highlands. Geogra ...

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. Dänzer developed into one of Switzerland's most successful female skiers in the 1950s. The start of her sporting career, however, was fraught with a number of hurdles. In January 1950, she suffered a compound fracture of her right tibia and fibula in a fall that put her out of action for six months. After her recovery, Dänzer did manage to rejoin the Swiss national team. In 1954, however, she was not taken to the World Championships in

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

, although she had shortly before become Swiss champion in the downhill on the Lauberhorn in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells t ...

References

Frieda Dänzer's obituary

External links

* 1930 births 2015 deaths Swiss female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Switzerland Olympic silver medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics People from Frutigen-Niedersimmental District Skiers from the canton of Bern 20th-century Swiss sportswomen {{Switzerland-alpine-skiing-bio-stub