Didier Cuche

Didier Cuche
Personal information
Full name	Didier Cuche
Born	August 16, 1974 (1974-08-16) (age 37) Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Height	5 ft 8.5 in (1.74 m)
Professional information
Club	Chasseral Dombresson
Skis	Head
World Cup
Seasons	1993 - present
Wins	17
Additional podiums	43
Total podiums	60
Updated on 2011-03-13.

Medal record
Competitor for  Switzerland
Men's Alpine Skiing
Olympic Games
Silver	1998 Nagano	Super-G
World Championships
Gold	2009 Val d'Isère	Super-G
Silver	2011 Garmisch	Downhill
Silver	2009 Val d'Isère	Downhill
Bronze	2007 Åre	Giant Slalom

Didier Cuche (born August 16, 1974, in Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel) is a Swiss alpine ski racer. He primarily competes in the speed disciplines of downhill and Super-G, along with the technical discipline of giant slalom. He is the reigning World Cup downhill and Super-G champion for the 2011 season and has won three previous downhill titles in 2010, 2008 and 2007, along with a giant slalom title in 2009. Through March 2011, Cuche has 17 World Cup race victories, along with 60 podiums (top three) and 170 top ten finishes.^[1] He is also an Olympic silver medalist and has won a total of four World Championships medals (a gold, two silvers, and a bronze).

Career highlights

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Cuche was the silver medalist in the Super-G, where he had exactly the same time as Hans Knauss resulting in a rare sharing of the medal (no bronze medal was awarded).

Cuche switched from Atomic to Head skis following the 2006 season, joining Bode Miller and Hermann Maier.

During the 2007 season, Cuche was in top form, winning the downhill season title with a victory and four second place finishes. In the Bormio downhill on December 28, 2006, he finished second, 0.01 seconds behind winner Michael Walchhofer, the smallest measurable amount in ski racing.

Cuche repeated as the World Cup downhill season champion in 2008 with 584 points, five ahead of overall champion Bode Miller. Cuche finished third overall and nearly won the Super-G season title, finishing a single point behind champion Hannes Reichelt.^[2]

At the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isère, France, Cuche won the Super-G and was the silver medalist in the downhill.

A week after winning the Super-G and downhill at Kitzbühel in 2010, Cuche broke his right thumb in the giant slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia on January 29, two weeks before the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[3] The injury put Cuche's Olympic participation in doubt, and he was immediately flown to Switzerland. After successful thumb surgery, he was cleared to compete in the Olympics in Canada.^[4] Cuche had a disappointing Olympics and did not medal, however he regained the title of World Cup downhill champion for the 2010 season at the first post-Olympic race. Cuche won the downhill on the challenging Olympiabakken course at Kvitfjell, Norway, on March 6 for his fifth World Cup victory of the season. Until 2010, Cuche had never won more than two World Cup events in a single season.

On January 22, 2011, Cuche became the oldest race winner in the history of the World Cup, winning the Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel at the age of &1000000000000003600000036 years, &10000000000000159000000159 days.^[5] It was also his fourth downhill victory in Kitzbühel, which ties him with Franz Klammer for the record on the Hahnenkamm, which is generally considered the most difficult and dangerous of all downhill courses. He extended his age record a week later, with another downhill win in Chamonix at the age of &1000000000000003600000036 years, &10000000000000166000000166 days.

At the 2011 World Championships in February, he won the silver medal in the downhill. In March he won the downhill champion title for the 2011 season. This marked the fourth time he captured the title (2011, 2010, 2008, 2007), a record only surpassed by Franz Klammer who won the title five times. He ended the 2010-11 FIS World Cup season in first place ranking in Downhill and Super-G, finishing second in the Overall rankings to Ivica Kostelic.

World Cup victories

Season titles

6 season titles: 4 downhill, 1 Super-G, 1 giant slalom

Season	Discipline
2007	Downhill
2008	Downhill
2009	Giant Slalom
2010	Downhill
2011	Downhill
	Super-G

Race victories

17 race victories: (9 downhill, 5 super G, 3 giant slalom)

Season	Date	Location	Race
1998	23 Jan 1998	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
2002	05 Jan 2002	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant Slalom
	07 Mar 2002	Altenmarkt, Austria	Super-G
2003	08 Dec 2002	Beaver Creek, USA	Super-G
2004	30 Jan 2004	Garmisch, Germany	Downhill
2007	10 Mar 2007	Kvitfjell, Norway	Downhill
2008	14 Dec 2007	Val Gardena, Italy	Super-G
	19 Jan 2008	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
2009
	21 Feb 2009	Sestriere, Italy	Giant Slalom
2010	25 Oct 2009	Sölden, Austria	Giant Slalom
	28 Nov 2009	Lake Louise, Canada	Downhill
	22 Jan 2010	Kitzbühel, Austria	Super-G
	23 Jan 2010		Downhill
	06 Mar 2010	Kvitfjell, Norway	Downhill
2011	22 Jan 2011	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	29 Jan 2011	Chamonix, France	Downhill
	13 Mar 2011	Kvitfjell, Norway	Super-G

References

1. ^ Ski-db.com - results - Didier Cuche - accessed 2011-03-17
2. ^ afp.google.com
3. ^ sportsillustrated.cnn.com - 2010-01-29
4. ^ abcnews.go.com - 9710341
5. ^ "Triumphant Didier Cuche sets age mark". ESPN.com. Associated Press (ESPN). 22 January 2011. http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/skiing/news/story?id=6047868. Retrieved 22 January 2011. 

External links

• Didier Cuche at the International Ski Federation
• FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - 1996-2011
• Didier Cuche.ch - (French) - official site

Persondata
Name	Cuche, Didier
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 16, 1974
Place of birth	Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Date of death
Place of death