Meet Katharina Liensberger: The ski racer who finds inner peace when playing the harp
The alpine skiing double world champion from Austria is one of the most gifted athletes on the circuit, but did you also know she has musical talent? More on that, and her favourite life mantra, below.
Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing medals will be anything but a foregone conclusion at the Winter Olympics in Beijing thanks to Katharina Liensberger.
Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova dominated most of the last Olympic cycle, but that all changed last season thanks to the Austrian’s breakout campaign.
In slalom, the 24-year-old showed astonishing consistency to finish on the podium in all but one of her World Cup races. Her first win came in Are, Sweden, meaning that Austria’s six-year wait for a women’s slalom victory (following Nicole Hosp’s November 2014 win) had ended.
But that was only the beginning.
At the 2021 World Championships, Liensberger became the first Austrian woman to win the slalom world title since four-time Olympic medallist Marlies Schild in 2011, denying two-time Olympic champion Shiffrin a fifth-consecutive slalom title in the process.
Not content with just one medal, Liensberger also secured gold in the parallel event and bronze in the giant slalom in Cortina, Italy.
In ski-obsessed Austria, she’s considered the talisman of their national team, or ‘Wunderteam’, following the retirement of Olympic champion Anna Veith in 2020.
But what else do you know about the Feldkirch native, who was described by her rival Shiffrin as an “amazing competitor… leading the next generation of athletes”?
1 – An Austrian ski baby
The winter sports prodigy learnt to ski at almost the same time she could walk.
Liensberger was taking her first runs on the snow aged three, and the rest was history.
“I've loved snow since I was little. Playing in the snow quickly became too boring for me and I immediately discovered the fun and enthusiasm of skiing,” she said on her personal website.
“For me, skiing is the most beautiful sport I can imagine. I love nature, where something new awaits me every day. The great thing about skiing is that I am completely with myself, I feel safe and I am happy to take on any challenge.”
The next challenge was learning to race, and she took to it immediately.
“I love ski racing and I love this sport actually more than any other sport in the world,” she told the FIS website.
“I always dreamed about being as fast as possible from the start to the finish line of the races –and that hasn’t changed until today.”
2 – Benefitting from a gymnastics background
Despite being such a natural on snow, Liesenberger also practised artistic gymnastics from 2003-2011.
While the two sports don’t seem like a natural fit together, the young Austrian found that gymnastics helped her skiing.
“Gymnastics has given me the opportunity to learn movement sequences quickly, to build up a good body feeling and to learn a harmonious, elegant body movement with the help of body tension,” she told OFT (Austrian Gymnastics Federation).
“Also today these fundamentals help me with my body balance and movement dynamics in skiing.”
3 – The ultimate outdoorswoman
Liesenberger gave up gymnastics, but she still partakes in plenty of activities away from skiing.
According to her website, the 5-foot-5 (1.64m) enjoys hiking, playing tennis, water skiing, and on occasion kite surfing.
“I really need variety every day and to find challenges that I can manage by putting all my love and confidence into them,” she told FIS of her athletic pursuits.
Elsewhere on her social media handles, Liesenberger can be found cycling, rock climbing and practising equestrian. Talk about a multi-tasker!
4 – A dab hand on the harp
It’s not all extreme sports for the alpine skier.
When she needs to slow down and relax inside, she turns her talents towards harp.
“Playing the harp helps me a lot to relax and free my mind,” she told the FIS website.
“For me, it‘s a wonderful compensation to hear some calm tones and to concentrate myself on a completely different area than skiing. Even though over the last few years I have had less time to play, as I am travelling a lot, I always enjoy playing my harp again when I come back home.”
5 – Liesenberger the philosopher
"Believe. Fly. Achieve," Liensberger wrote on her Instagram profile.
The Austrian skier may only by 24, but life as an elite athlete has given her a wealth of life experience already.
As such, the Customs Administration graduate draws parallels between her day job on the mountain, to other areas of life.
If you’re ever in need of a dose of inspiration, head on over to her social media, where she shares this wisdom.
“Ski fast, do what you love, let dreams come true - and you'll see that everything's possible!” Katharina Liesenberger’s mantra on her personal website.