Pamela Behr

Pamela Behr
 Alpine skier 
Disciplines Slalom, Giant Slalom,
Downhill, Combined
Born September 21, 1956
Hindelang, West Germany
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
World Cup debut 1971 (age 14)[2]
Retired 1980 (age 23)
Olympics
Teams 3 – (1972, 1976, 1980)
Medals 0 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams 2 – (1974, 1978)
Medals 1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 10 - (1971-1980)
Wins 1
Podiums 5
Overall titles 0
Discipline titles 0

Pamela Behr (born September 21, 1956 in Hindelang, then West Germany) is a retired German alpine ski racer. She is the youngest person ever to win an FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race, winning a slalom in Val d'Isere, France, in December 1972 at the age of 16 years, 79 days.[2][3] It would be the only World Cup race win of her ten-year career. She won the silver medal in slalom at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Skiing career

Behr made her debut on the World Cup circuit at the age of 14 in the 1971 season[2] and scored her first World Cup points the next year, with three top-ten results during the 1972 season. These included second place in a slalom in Pra Loup, France, in March 1972 at the age of 15 years, 178 days, the youngest ever to finish on a World Cup podium (top three).[3]

She competed in three Winter Olympics, racing in all alpine skiing events during her Olympic debut in 1972 at age 15, finishing 6th in slalom, 25th in giant slalom, and 36th in downhill.[1] She would place 5th in slalom at the 1976 Olympics, but failed to finish the slalom in her final Olympics in 1980.

Behr won the West German national championships a total of seven times between 1971 and 1979, six times in slalom and once in giant slalom.

World Cup podiums

Season Date Location Discipline Place Age
1972 March 17, 1972 France Pra Loup Slalom 2nd 15 years, 178 days
1973 December 9, 1972 France Val d'Isere Slalom 1st 16 years, 79 days
January 2, 1973 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Maribor Slalom 2nd 16 years, 103 days
1976 December 17, 1975 Italy Cortina d'Ampezzo Slalom 2nd 19 years, 87 days
1977 January 19, 1977 Austria Schruns Slalom 3rd 20 years, 120 days

World Championships medals

Season Date Location Discipline Place Age
1978 February 3, 1978 West Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen Slalom Silver 21 years, 135 days

Personal life

Pamela Behr is the daughter of Sepp Behr, an alpine ski racer who also won seven West German national championships titles in slalom, giant slalom, and combined from 1954 to 1962. She is married to Christian Knauth, the marketing and communications director of the FIS (International Ski Federation).

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Sports Reference / Olympic Sports: Pamela Behr". Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 McKee, Hank (June 2009). "How Ski Racers Have Changed". Skiing Heritage 21 (2): 9–11. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "World Cup Women's Age Stats". Ski-db.com. Retrieved 2012-01-28.

External links