Hans Enn

Hans Enn (born 10 May 1958) is an Austrian former alpine ski racer who competed in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup from 1976 to 1989. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, he won a bronze medal in the men's giant slalom and finished fourth in the men's slalom.

Enn won six World Cup races and finished on the podium 22 times, with five victories in giant slalom and one in super-G. His best overall World Cup finish was seventh in 1979–1980, when he also finished second in the giant slalom standings; he finished third in that discipline's standings in 1983–1984.

His career was interrupted by several injuries, including fractures to his tibia and fibula in 1981 and a cruciate ligament injury in 1989. After several operations and an unsuccessful attempt to return for the planned 1991 Alpine World Ski Championships, he ended his competitive career. He remained involved in the sport through ski development, material testing and guiding, as well as tourism in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

Early life and junior career

Childhood in Hinterglemm

Enn was born on 10 May 1958 in Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer, in the Austrian state of Salzburg, and grew up in nearby Hinterglemm. He represented SC Saalbach-Hinterglemm during his racing career.

Junior career

Enn was Austrian youth champion in downhill and slalom in 1974 and in giant slalom and the combined in 1976 before moving into senior international competition. He entered the Austrian Ski Federation's squad in the mid-1970s and competed in the European Cup before entering the World Cup. His first World Cup start came in the downhill at Morzine on 17 January 1976, where he finished ninth.

World Cup career

Emergence, 1976–1979

During his first seasons Enn competed in several disciplines, including downhill, slalom, giant slalom and the combined. At the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he finished sixth in giant slalom and 11th in slalom. In March 1979 he reached his first World Cup podiums, finishing second in giant slalom at Lake Placid and third at Heavenly Valley. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Enn won the bronze medal in the men's giant slalom. He was second after the first run and finished behind Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden and Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein, with a combined time of 2:42.51.

The men's slalom was held on 22 February 1980. Enn finished fourth, with a total time of 1:45.12, 0.06 seconds behind bronze medallist Jacques Lüthy. He was tied for second after the first run. On 26 February 1980 Enn won his first World Cup race, taking the giant slalom at Waterville Valley.

Olympic career

Enn competed at two Winter Olympics, in 1980 and 1984. At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, he won the bronze medal in giant slalom and finished fourth in slalom. He was second after the first giant slalom run and finished 0.06 seconds behind bronze medallist Jacques Lüthy in the slalom. Enn was later associated with Neuro Socks and appeared in Austrian media coverage of the company in 2019.

Honours

Enn was named Salzburg's male Sportsperson of the Year in 1984 and 1988 in the annual sports election organized by Salzburger Nachrichten. In 1996 he received the Goldenes Verdienstzeichen, the Decoration of Merit in Gold of the Republic of Austria.

Championship results

Enn competed at the standalone World Championships in 1978, 1982, 1985 and 1989. FIS also classifies the 1980 Lake Placid alpine events as World Championship events; its career summary records seven World Championship starts and one podium for Enn.

Year Venue Competition Discipline Result 1978 Garmisch-Partenkirchen FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 Giant slalom 6th 1978 Garmisch-Partenkirchen FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 Slalom 11th 1980 Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics / World Championships Giant slalom Bronze 1980 Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics / World Championships Slalom 4th 1982 Schladming FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1982 Giant slalom 6th 1985 Bormio FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1985 Giant slalom 5th 1989 Vail FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1989 Super-G 13th 1989 Vail FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1989 Giant slalom DNF

World Cup statistics

World Cup victories

Enn won six World Cup races between February 1980 and January 1985.

Season Date Location Discipline 1979–80 26 February 1980 Waterville Valley Giant slalom 1982–83 29 January 1983 Kranjska Gora Giant slalom 1983–84 10 December 1983 Val-d'Isère Super-G 1983–84 17 March 1984 Åre Giant slalom 1983–84 23 March 1984 Oslo Giant slalom 1984–85 15 January 1985 Adelboden Giant slalom

World Cup podiums

Enn finished on the World Cup podium 22 times: 16 times in giant slalom, five times in super-G and once in the combined.

Season 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1978–79 0 1 1 2 1979–80 1 1 2 4 1980–81 0 3 0 3 1981–82 0 2 0 2 1982–83 1 1 1 3 1983–84 3 0 2 5 1984–85 1 0 0 1 1988–89 0 1 1 2 Total 6 9 7 22

World Cup season standings

Season Overall Points Downhill Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Combined 1975–}76 56th 2 23rd — — — — 1976–77 35th 26 22nd — 20th — — 1977–78 38th 12 — 17th 19th — — 1978–79 12th 81 — 25th 9th — — 1979–80 7th 100 — 13th 2nd — — 1980–81 14th 93 38th 30th 9th — 4th 1981–82 13th 75 — — 4th — — 1982–83 20th 84 — — 5th — 43rd 1983–84 11th 105 — — 3rd — — 1984–85 19th 80 — — 6th — 16th 1985–86 36th 47 — — 17th 8th — 1986–87 74th 8 — — 25th — — 1987–88 26th 51 — — 14th 10th — 1988–89 35th 41 — — 13th 9th —