Traudl HECHER

Competing mostly before the World Cup era, Traudl Hecher compiled one of the great records in FIS races from 1960-67, winning all over the world. She was a 10-time Austrian champion, winning the downhill in 1965 and 1967, giant slalom in 1963, slalom in 1960-62, and in combined from 1960-63. Hecher broke through to world class in the 1959-60 season, winning the downhill and combined at the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, and making the Austrian Olympic team with her two national titles in 1960. At Squaw Valley she took bronze in the downhill, which she would repeat in 1964 at Innsbruck. Later in the 1960 FIS races, Hecher won the Harriman Cup at Squaw Valley and the North American downhill championships in Stowe, Vermont. She also won the Arlberg-Kandahar race in Sestriere in 1960.

Hecher’s greatest season was 1960-61, when she 16 major races, including the downhill, slalom, and combined races at the Hahnenkamm, at Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and at San Martino di Castrozza. She was never again quite that dominant although she continued to be a major force in international skiing through 1966-67. She had four international wins in 1962, nine in 1963, seven in 1965, and four in 1966. In 1965 at Davos, she had her best tournament ever, winning titles in downhill, giant slalom, slalom, and combined – everything available to her. Although she competed at the 1962 and 1966 World Championships, she was unable to make the podium in any events.

Hecher retired in the summer of 1967. She completed her training at a women’s fashion school, which she had started during her ski career. She later married Anton Görgl, and the family settled in Styria. Two of their children, Stephan and Elisabeth, both became ski racers and competed at the Olympics.