Schneider's Winning Streak.

Schneider's Winning Streak. In 1989 Swiss downhill skier Vreni Schneider racked up a record-breaking 14 victories on the World Cup skiing circuit. . Vreni Schneider's Winning Streak Although Vreni Schneider of Switzerland (1964- ) earned popular recognition on the strength of an unprecedented three gold medals in Alpine skiing in three Olympic Games, her finest accomplishment came in a non-Olympic year. The year was 1989, and the accomplishment was 14 victories on the World Cup circuit, including 10 straight slalom and giant slalom races. "A winning streak to end all winning streaks," Skiing magazine called it. "One that took the World Cup record book and shredded it." Schneider began skiing at age three and began racing in the first grade. She soon developed into one of the best junior skiers in the country, and her talent on the slopes was matched only by her enthusiasm for the sport. "When she sees snow, she wants to ski--day and night if possible," Jan Tischhauser, one of her coaches, told Sports Illustrated. "Other racers must force themselves to ski, but she enjoys it and that's the difference." Beginning at age ten, however, Schneider had to divert much of her energy to helping take care of the household because her mother was stricken with cancer. It wasn't until seven years later in 1984, following her mother's death, that Schneider returned to competitive skiing, and by 1986 she was one of the best on the World Cup circuit in the giant slalom and the slalom. She won the giant slalom gold medal at the 1987 world championships. At the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Schneider won gold medals in the giant slalom and the slalom. In the giant slalom, in what became a pattern for her, she fell behind on the first round; she was in fifth. But on the second run she registered the fastest time of the round to move into first place. In the slalom she registered the best time in both runs to capture the gold by a substantial margin of 1.68 seconds. In 1989 Schneider dominated the World Cup circuit. She won the slalom and the giant slalom in the first five competitions to rack up ten straight victories. As the wins mounted, her self-assurance grew. "Vreni has so much confidence she will try anything," United States skier Diann Roffe told the New York Times. "Even if she makes a mistake, she is so strong she just skis through and forgets it." Schneider carried ten straight wins to the world championships in Vail, Colorado. At Vail, she faced tough competition in the slalom from Mateja Svet of Yugoslavia, the silver medalist in the event at the 1988 Olympics, and Tamara McKinney of the United States, who had finished first in the combined downhill and slalom event earlier in the competition. McKinney recorded the best time on the first run; Svet finished four-hundredths of a second behind her. Schneider, typically, was eighth after the first run. In the second round Svet blazed the course in a time of 46.86 seconds to finish with a combined time of 1 minute 30.88 seconds. Schneider completed the second run in a time of 46.04 seconds, the fastest time of the day, but her total of 1 minute 31.49 seconds was not enough to overtake Svet. McKinney finished third with a time of 1 minute 31.56 seconds. "As usual, I had a pretty slow first run, but I still thought I could come back," Schneider told the New York Times. "This time I just couldn't make it. I was too cautious." The second-place finish snapped her winning streak at ten races. In the giant slalom Schneider didn't allow herself to get behind. On the first run she clocked the fastest time of the day to hold first place. She did the same in the second round to finish with a combined time of 2 minutes 29.37 seconds. "This time I maybe took more risks," she told the New York Times."I didn't want to again be in the position to catch up in the second round." On the last stop of the 1989 circuit in Furano, Japan, Schneider won the slalom. She finished the World Cup season with 14 wins--seven slalom, six giant slalom, and one in the combined event. Those 14 wins broke the women's record of 11 wins set by Austria's Annemarie Moser-Proell in 1972 and the men's record of 13 wins by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark in 1979. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.