Vreni Schneider

Verena "Vreni" Schneider (born 26 November 1964) is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever (after Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin) and was voted "Swiss Sportswoman of the Century".

Early life Schneider was born in Elm, the daughter of a shoemaker. Her mother died of cancer when Schneider was a teenager: as a result she put her ski career on hold and dropped out of school to look after the family home.

Racing career Schneider made her World Cup debut at the age of 20.

During the 1988–89 season she won 14 World Cup races, a record for single season wins that stood until Shiffrin beat that record in the 2018–19 season.

In April 1995, after eleven successful seasons, she announced her retirement. Today she runs a ski and snowboard school in her home village of Elm as well as a sport equipment shop in Glarus.

Vreni Schneider is praised in the Half Man Half Biscuit song 'Uffington Wassail' thus: "Vreni Schneider – you’re my downhill lady! Vreni Schneider – you’re the queen of the slopes!" The song is on the album Trouble Over Bridgwater from the year 2000.

World Cup results

Season titles 14 titles – (3 overall, 6 Slalom, 5 Giant slalom)

Season standings SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiantslalomDownhillCombined 1985 20 9 22 3 — — 17 1986 21 3 7 1 14 — 5 1987 22 2 4 1 6 14 2 1988 23 5 2 3 22 — 5 1989 24 1 1 1 17 — 3 1990 25 6 1 5 25 — — 1991 26 3 5 1 — — — 1992 27 4 1 2 — — — 1993 28 6 1 12 — — — 1994 29 1 1 2 19 15 5 1995 30 1 1 1 25 23 2

Race victories TotalSlalomGiant slalomDownhillSuper-GCombinedParallel Wins 55 34 20 0 0 1 0 Podiums 101 47 46 1 2 5 0

World Championship results YearAgeSlalomGiantslalomDownhillCombined 1985 20 — 12 — — 1987 22 — 1 4 — 4 1989 24 2 1 — — 2 1991 26 1 7 — — 3

Olympic results YearAgeSlalomGiantslalomDownhillCombined 1988 23 1 1 — — DNF2 1992 27 7 DNF1 — — — 1994 29 1 3 — 33 2