Athlete Bios: Skiing

Andreas Schifferer (AUS)
Birthday: 8/3/74
Home Base: Radstadt, AUT

Member of a power house Austrian team who will compete against each other for podium spots, Andreas Schifferer is first in men's World Cup downhill wins and second overall so far this season (4 out of the the top-5 World Cup overall are Austrians).

Schifferer, who took the second December downhill on Beaver Creek's new Birds of Prey course and again was victorious in Bormio, Italy, won by nearly a second over Jean-Luc Cretier of France in the World Cup downhill in Wengen, Switzerland. He also won the last men's downhill before the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by more than half a second.

Schifferer leaves 'em in the dust, though somewhat eclipsed by friend and countryman Herman Maier, who leads the World Cup overall standings by 500 points to Schifferer's second overall. Both are part of a pack destined to duke it out for gold in Nagano.

Read more in our Austrian Men's Ski Preview.