Athlete profile: Markus Eberle

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

Athlete notes

Though a double-gold medal performance by Markus Wasmeier in Lillehammer earned the German men's alpine team many accolades, the German men limp into Nagano with few medal threats following the retirement of Wasmeier and slalom-specialist Armin Bittner..."A few years ago, we only seemed to be a strong team," says current coach Rainer Mutschler. "We had a certain amount of luck, but underneath we were really bleeding"...with a lack of depth, the only legitimate German contender is the 29-year-old Eberle, a veteran on the national team who has yet to compete in the Olympics...in 1992, Eberle tore ligaments in his right knee, which held him back for several years and caused him to miss the Games...then in 1995, the same thing happened to his left knee and he was out for much of the year and 1996...for an older skier, Eberle's recovery has been impressive...last season he posted three top-10 finishes in the World Cup slalom events, though he blew out of the course at the World Championships in Sestriere, Italy..."My skiing is definitely in my head," says Eberle. "Last year, every race was better and better for me. I felt looser. I need to do that this year"...Eberle has also been training hard in giant slalom and he hopes to compete in both events in Japan...but unlike many athletes, Eberle does not like to focus on the Olympics in the weeks leading up to the Games..."I'm not even thinking about Nagano right now," says Eberle. "The World Cup is what is important. You see what results come out of the World Cup and you go from there"...with all the injuries, you can't blame Eberle for not looking too far ahead on his schedule...Eberle started skiing when he was just three years old...his hometown of Riezlern is in Kleinwalsertal -- the same valley where Ludwig "Lochi" Leitner, who finished fourth in the slalom at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley, hails from...Eberle's parents could not ski at all, but Markus persevered, trying to emulate his idol growing up, Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark...Eberle realizes the results for the German men have not been there in the past few seasons..."I do my best," says Eberle. "We have to try and reach the top, or the media might give us some trouble. We have not had the success as the women's team, but we have several young guys like Alois Vogl"...for his part, Eberle hopes to remain skiing for a few more years...he and his wife do not plan on having kids as long as Eberle is still skiing...Eberle recently passed his test to become a ski instructor at the Austrian resort of St.Anton/St.Christoph -- where one of the oldest ski schools in the world is located -- but does not know what he wants to do following retirement...he speaks some English...