Mario STECHER

Mario Stecher competed at five Winter Olympics, winning team gold medals in 2006 and 2010, and a team bronze in 2002. On the World Cup circuit Stecher débuted in 1993 and won the first of his 13 World Cup victories at Holmenkollen in 1994, making him at the time the youngest winner of Nordic combined at Holmenkollen. Stecher was still only a junior in 1994 and won four medals, including two golds, at the 1994 and 1995 World Junior Championships. One of these was the 1994 individual title, while in 1995 he placed second in that event. Stecher eventually had 48 podium finishes in the World Cup, including 15 seconds and 20 thirds. Stecher won six medals at the World Championships, including two golds in team events in 2011, on the normal and large hill. He won two individual World medals, with silvers in the 1999 sprint and the 2013 normal hill event. In 2008 Stecher married Austrian Olympic Alpine skiier Carina Raich, thus making him the brother-in-law to Austrian skiing star Benjamin Raich.