| Didier Cuche | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Didier Cuche |
| Born | August 16, 1974 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 | 18 |
| Additional podiums | 43 |
| Total podiums | 61 |
| Updated on 2011-11-26. | |
| 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 61 podiums (top three) and 171 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).
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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 36 years, 159 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 36 years, 166 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.
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 |
18 race victories: (10 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 | |
| 2012 | 26 Nov 2011 | Lake Louise, Canada | Downhill |
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