Michael VON GRUENIGEN

Michael von Grünigen took up skiing at the age of three and first gained international attention by winning a silver medal in the slalom at the 1987 Junior World Championships. He made his senior World Cup debut two years later, with a sixth-place finish in a giant slalom event, and placed seventh in his first World Championship appearance in 1991. He first represented Switzerland at the Winter Olympics in 1992, where he was seventh in the slalom and joint-thirteenth (with Stéphane Exartier of France) in the giant slalom. He earned his first World Cup podium finish, a victory, the following year in the giant slalom, and followed it up with a third-place finish later in the season. At the 1994 Winter Games he was 15th in the slalom and failed to complete the giant slalom.

Grünigen’s prowess began to be felt after these Games, and he had 11 additional podium finishes, six of which were victories, at the World Cup prior to the 1996 World Championships, where he captured bronze medals in the slalom and the giant slalom. The following year he became World Champion in the giant slalom and earned his second of four World Cup giant slalom titles (the others came in 1996, 1999, and 2003). His next major stop was the 1998 Winter Olympics, where he was 19th in the slalom, but won bronze in the giant slalom. He slipped to seventh in the giant slalom at the 1999 World Championships, and finished 12th in the slalom, but was crowned world champion in the giant slalom once again in 2001, where he was also 22nd in the slalom. He attended his final Olympics in 2002, but placed 11th in the giant slalom and 14th in the slalom.

Grünigen retired from active competition shortly after a seventh-place finish in the giant slalom at the 2003 World Championships. In his career he earned 48 podium finishes, 23 of which were victories, in World Cup events, all but two of which were in the giant slalom. He was Swiss national slalom champion in 1996, 1997, and 2001, was giant slalom champion in 1997 and 2001, and was named Swiss Sportsman of the Year in 1997. He later worked in various positions in the ski manufacturing business and for Swiss-Ski. His sister Christine competed in alpine skiing at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.