Two-time Olympic champion
Ski legend Rosi Mittermaier is dead
01/05/2023, 09:35 am
Two-time Olympic ski champion Rosi Mittermaier is dead. According to her family, she died “after a serious illness”. Mittermaier was 72 years old. The “Gold-Rosi” was not only one of the most popular winter athletes in Germany because of her success for decades.
The German ski legend Rosi Mittermaier is dead. She died at the age of 72, as her family told the Sport Information Service (SID): “We as a family announce the sad news that our beloved wife, mom and grandma passed away peacefully on January 4th, 2023 after a serious illness surrounded by the family,” writes the family. Mittermaier became famous after winning two gold medals at the 1976 Winter Olympics, and in the 1960s and 1970s she was one of the best skiers in the world: the Bavarian celebrated ten World Cup victories, and in 1976 she won the overall World Cup, the slalom World Cup and the combined ranking. At the Olympic Games in Innsbruck, she won three medals – two of which were golden.
The Bayerischer Rundfunk recognized Mittermaier, who became socially involved in numerous fields after her career, as “for many always “one of us”. One who attracted people, where heart and feeling were the pacesetter of life. For herself and especially for the people around them.” The Deutsche Sporthilfe wrote in its appreciation of Mittermaier’s entry into the “Hall of Fame of German Sports”: The charisma of her overall personality and her life after her career, which is characterized by social commitment, are also responsible for this. Mittermaier-Neureuther dedicates itself intensively to the idea of charity. She is patron of the Children’s Rheumatism Foundation, ambassador of the European Parliament for sport, tolerance and fair play and is committed to organ transplanted children at the Kinderhilfe Organtransplantation association. In 2005 she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for her commitment.
Mittermaier had been married to ski racer Christian Neureuther since 1980, and their son Felix successfully followed in his parents’ footsteps: in 2005, 2013, 2015 and 2017 he won a total of five World Championship medals and won 13 World Cup races.
More to come.