Katja Seizinger

Katja Seizinger, born on 10 May 1972 in Datteln, North Rhine-Westphalia, is a German former alpine ski racer who won the World Cup overall title twice and is regarded as the most successful alpine skier in her country's history. At the Winter Olympics she won three gold and two bronze medals. Her downhill victories at the 1994 and 1998 Games made her the first racer, man or woman, to win consecutive Olympic golds in the same alpine speed event, and she also became the first woman to defend an Olympic alpine title. Across her career she took eleven World Cup season titles, two overall, four in downhill and five in super-G, and won 36 World Cup races. She was named German sportswoman of the year three times. She injured both knees in training in June 1998, missed the 1999 season and retired that April.