Hippolyt KEMPF

Hippolyt Kempf, whose successes at the 1988 Winter Olympics would inspire many Swiss Nordic combined skiers, got his start on the international scene in 1986, when he earned his first World Cup victory in the 15 km. He was sixth in that event at the 1987 World Championships, as well as fifth in the team competition, but improved greatly at the 1988 Winter Olympics, where he won the individual event and was runner-up in the team tournament with Fredy Glanzmann and Andreas Schaad. The trio added another silver medal to their collection at the 1989 World Championships, where Kempf finished fourth in the 15 km, but, with Marco Zarucchi replacing Glanzmann, slipped to 10th at the 1992 Winter Olympics; Kempf was 26th individually. Schaad and Kempf, with Jean-Yves Cuendet, fared better at the 1994 edition, capturing bronze, but Kempf was unable to regain his glory in the individual, finishing sixth. He retired within a month of the Games, having accumulated 11 World Cup podium finishes, 5 of which were victories. After his retirement, Kempf worked for Swiss-Ski, the Swiss national skiing federation, and eventually earned a doctorate in economics and social sciences. Since then he has worked as an economist with the Federal Office of Sport and as the head of Nordic Sports at Swiss-Ski.