Mario Matt (born 9 April 1979) is an Austrian former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer 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 for ...

and

Olympic gold medalist This article lists the individuals who have won at least four gold medals at the Olympic Games or at least three gold medals in individual events. List of most Olympic gold medals over career This is a partial list of multiple Olympic gold medalis ...

Slalom racing career

Born in

Zams Zams is a municipality in the district of Landeck in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography The Inn River runs through Zams, which is situated in the river's basin together with its neighbour town Landeck. The geographical location is . Here, the ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Matt made his World Cup debut in December

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

. He claimed 15 World Cup victories: 14 in slalom and one

super combined Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. (Until the 1990 ...

. Matt is also a two-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in slalom, with titles in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

. With a remarkably long career as a top slalom racer, he is the second oldest (after

André Myhrer André Myhrer (born 11 January 1983) is a retired Swedish World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Born at Bergsjö in Gävleborg County, Myhrer competed in the technical events and specialised in slalom. Career Myhrer made his W ...

, who won gold in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) to win an Olympic gold medal in slalom skiing (in Sochi at the

2014 Winter olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

) and also the second oldest (after

Dave Ryding David Ryding (born 5 December 1986) is an English World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in slalom. Widely considered to be the greatest British skier of all time, he has competed for Great Britain in four Olympics, seven World Championshi ...

) to win a (regular) World Cup slalom race. Matt also has the third longest time interval between first and last World Cup victories (13 years, 10 months, and 22 days), after

Ingemar Stenmark Jan Ingemar Stenmark (; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, and as the greatest slalom and giant slalom specialist of all time. He competed for ...

and

Didier Cuche Didier Cuche (born 16 August 1974) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. Career Born in Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel, he competed in the downhill and super-G, along with the giant slalom. He won the World Cup downhill and super-G ...

. Matt announced his retirement from ski racing on 12 March 2015.

World Cup results

Season standings

Race victories

* 15 wins – (14 SL, 1 SC) * 42 podiums – (40 SL, 1 GS, 1 SC)

World Championships results

Olympic results

Business career

In 2009, Matt purchased the Krazy Kanguruh bar at the Arlberg resort St. Anton. He also runs a stable where he breeds Arabian horses.

Personal

Matt is the brother of

skicross Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often con ...

competitor and Olympic silver winner

Andreas Matt Andreas Matt (born 19 October 1982) is an Austrian retired freestyle skier who specialised in the skicross discipline. He is the brother of alpine skiers Mario Matt and Michael Matt. Career He made his World Cup debut in January 2004 in ...

and fellow alpine skier

Michael Matt Michael Matt (born 13 May 1993) is an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. He specialises in the Slalom discipline and has competed in three World Championships. Career Matt made his World Cup debut at age 20 in the Levi slalom in November 2013, ...

References

External links

* * * ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Matt, Mario 1979 births Austrian male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of Austria Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Olympic gold medalists for Austria Sportspeople from Tyrol (state) People from Zams Living people Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria 20th-century Austrian people 21st-century Austrian people