Michaela DORFMEISTER

Three months prior to the XX Olympic Winter Games to be held in Turin, Michaela Dorfmeister had announced her intention to retire from the professional ski circuit. The pressure to produce the goods in the most prestigious event in the Apline calendar infused the setting where the cheerful Austrian in her last competition created a perfect mirror of her entire career: a double gold medal winning performance. Long before Michi completed her third Olympic Games in 2006, she had already gained priceless experience as a toddler, spending hours on the slopes near her home in a small resort called Neusiedl, being coached by her father, Hans. By six years old she was racing.

After completing the prestigious Schladming ski academy and brushing up on her technique on the junior circuit, the Viena-born Dorfmeister graduated to the professional ranks and at 18 years old made her World Cup debut in December 1991 at Serre Chevalier in France. Four years later she was becoming a consistent top 10 finisher on the World Cup circuit in all the speed events. An early taste of victory came on the home slopes of St. Anton where at 22-years-old she won the downhill and managed another top 3 finish. She rounded off the 1995 season as Austrian champion, as she did for the following three years.

A three year podium drought, brought on in part by equipment difficulties but overcome thanks also to wild hairdos of various outrageous colours, was ended in February 1998 when the out-going Viennese finally scaled the steps of success again. Nothing less than the Nagano Winter Games provided the stimulus for Michaela to ski the race of her then short career to clinch silver medal in the super-G, only 1/100 second behind USA's Picabo Street.

After a third place in the World Cup, in the Super-G at Cortina, one month later, Dorfmeister repeated the result, worth a bronze medal in the World Championships held in Vail, Colorado. Four days later, she won her third major medal with second place in the downhill.

Kept company while travelling by her two rats, named Columbus and Cindy, Dorfmeister found another gear in season 2000 with five wins, four in the giant slalom and one in the super-G to finish second overall and claim the small crystal globe for the super-G. The following season also proved to be fruitful. The gold medal in the downhill of the 2001 World Championships in St.Anton was another milestone. However, fifth place in the overall World Cup standings, was only the lead-up to what was to be her best ever season, in 2002.

Ten podiums, of which half were victories, catapulted Dorfmeister to second place in the downhill and giant slalom, third place the super-G, which guaranteed her the crystal globe that really counts. That success made up for the disappointment in the Salt Lake City Games where Dorfmeister came close to a medal position in the four events she had entered but left empty handed.

The following four years rewarded Dorfmeister with further success, only once slipping out of the overall top five, and claiming the individual titles for downhill in 2003, the super-G in 2005 and both in 2006. She ended her World Cup career with 25 wins out of 64 podiums.

Twenty days before the Turin Games, Michaela narrowly missed having a terrible accident by only just avoiding a member of the ski patrol who crossed in front of her on a run in St Moritz. Shaken and suffering nightmares because of her fear to fail in her last Olympics, she continued her preparation on the surface in a more care-free style.

On 15th February on a cloudy day with flat light, she dashed off in the downhill to race with a precision no other could match on the bumpy Fraiteve Olympique course. At 32, she took the only title missing from her incredible career and struggled to fight back the tears. Austria had won its first downhill title since Annemarie Moser-Proll in 1980.

Five days later in brilliant sunshine, it was the discipline she had excelled in more than any other throughout her career, the super-G. Despite heavy snowfall had covered the Piedmont course the day before, wreaking havoc on the race conditions, Dorfmeister pulled out another amazing display to beat Croat Janica Kostelic and fellow Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer by almost three and sixth tenths of a second.

After crossing the finishing line, the scoreboard was not updated immediately and Michaela had to rely on the Kostelic to inform her of her Olympic double.

"It's the best when you can stop your career on top," Dorfmeister said and who can go against that?