Athlete profile: Angelika Neuner

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

As half of the sliding "Neuner sisters," Angelika finished second to younger sister Doris at the 1992 Games in Albertville -- now Angelika goes at it in Nagano alone..."She had enough," reports Angelika of her gold-medal winning sister, who retired at the end of the 1996 season. "She decided to settle down and start working. She is enjoying herself and likes living in Kitzbühel"...Angelika, on the other hand, has stuck with it and notched her highest ever World Cup year-end ranking last season finishing runner-up to country-woman Andrea Tagwerker...the success of the Austrian women last year raises thoughts of an Austrian sweep in Nagano -- something which almost happened in Albertville when Doris, Angelika and Tagwerker were one, two, three respectively following the first day of competition...Tagwerker went on to record a poor second day showing and the red and white of Austria was raised on only two flag poles..."At this point, I think a sweep is somewhat unrealistic," says Angelika. "Andrea and I are the only two sliders with Olympic experience. But it is the Olympics, I wouldn't rule anything out"...with the firepower of the German team and Lillehammer gold-medalist Gerda Weissensteiner also in top form, Angelika says she would be happy with a medal...after all, she knows what it feels like to place just out of the medals...in Lillehammer, Neuner ended fourth -- only 0.25 seconds from a bronze..."At first I was disappointed," says Neuner. "I am ambitious and at the Olympics medals are the only thing people count. But then you realize later that fourth place is a rightfully good result"...heading to Japan, Neuner has a high level of confidence knowing that she tamed the Spiral en route to winning the Olympic test Events at Iizuna Kogen last year..."I like the track a lot," says Neuner. "It is different from all the other tracks. You can't make mistakes up top. The only bad thing is that the weather can change quickly there. Last year, the weather was good. So much can happen in two days of competition"...two years ago, she moved from her parents home in Innsbruck to her own three bedroom house in Wattens, just 10 km from Innsbruck...Wattens is most famous for being the home of the popular Swarovzki crystal manufacturer...though Neuner says she has been given some Swarovzki wares as gifts, she simply likes being able to live at home in Wattens when training at the Igls (EE-gulls) track nearby...Neuner has worked as a full-time secretary the last few summers and says she enjoys her work...she often trains at night following the long work day...often times, Austrian bobsledder Hubert Schösser trains at the same time as Neuner...the Neuner sisters started sliding when Angelika was 14 and Doris, 13...an aunt who was a luge trainer took the sisters to the Igls track..."The first time I ever went down, my sister and I tried it together," says Neuner. "We did half of the track. It was funny and the only feeling I had was curiosity. I was not scared at all"...Angelika's father is a chef at a dining service for university students and her mother is a housewife...she says mountain biking is her only main hobby...she speaks a little English...