Paul FROMMELT

After an impressive display at the European Junior Championships in 1975, Paul Frommelt’s first Olympic experience came as a teenager at the Innsbruck Olympics the following year. Initially overshadowed by the achievements of his brother Willi Frommelt, Paul eventually became the most consistently successful of the siblings and soon emulated Willi by winning a bronze medal at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Unlike his brother he was a slalom specialist and it was in this discipline that he won all five of his World Cup victories. Wins in 1979 and 1981 were followed by a barren period before a late career flourish saw three further wins between 1986 and 1988. Prior to the Calgary Winter Games Frommelt’s Olympic exploits had been little short of disastrous and he had failed to record a finish in any of his first three Olympic appearances. This changed in 1988 when Frommelt, by now a veteran of 30, put together two consistent slalom runs to earn himself a bronze medal thereby matching his brother’s achievement in 1976. He retired from the circuit in 1990 – the same year he won the last of his seven “Sportsman of the Year” awards in Liechtenstein. In contrast to the skiing success of the rest of the family, a third brother – Peter, represented his country at table tennis.