Athlete profile: Patrick Holzer

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

Athlete notes

Lingering in the shadows of Italian giant slalom and slalom star Alberto Tomba is another dangerous Italian technical skier...but Holzer has never materialized into the star performer the Italian ski team hoped for back in 1991-1992, when he won a Super G World Cup race in Garmisch, Germany in 1992 and then finished second at another Super G race in Lake Louise, Alberta...in the seasons following, Holzer's World Cup ranking tumbled...he finished 117th in the overall World Cup standings in 1993 and some of his coaches questioned his work ethic and desire..."We gave him a training program and he didn't follow it," said one Italian coach...no one can question Holzer's work ethic since then, however...following reconstructive surgery in 1994 on his left anterior cruciate ligament, which forced Holzer to miss two World Cup seasons, he seems to have turned things around in time for Nagano...though Super G was where he first made his mark -- in what he still considers his greatest achievement -- Holzer now specializes in the more technical giant slalom...Holzer and coach Franz Gamper (FRAHNZ GAHM-per) have been focusing on the tighter GS turns..."It was just too much," says former World Cup skier and Italian assistant coach Christian Polig. "He has only been focusing on giant slalom for a while now. He is ripe for a podium, he just needs to transfer his form in practice into results in competition"...last year, Holzer finished ninth in the World Cup giant slalom rankings and his early season form has placed him near the top 10 again this winter..."Things have been going well for him," says Polig. "We hope that he can do better as the season wears on leading up to the Olympics"..."To win a medal in Nagano is my goal for the season," says Holzer...that would be quite a remarkable comeback from his knee injury...indeed, Holzer has made a habit of recovering from injuries...in 1988 he broke his tibia...then he came back from a nasty injury in 1991 as well...he hurt himself in the off-season, when he almost severed his left thumb with an electric saw...he was sawing wood to make hurdles for his summer workouts when the saw slipped and cut right through a tendon to the bone..."I was nervous right afterward," says Holzer. "I didn't know if my thumb would work after surgery. I thought my career might have been done. Luckily the bone was OK"...he says he would like to "find an interesting job in the world of skiing" following his competitive career...but for now he is still living at home and remains "completely focused" on his sport...his father, Ernst, is a forest ranger and his mother, Rita, runs a clothing fashion boutique...Patrick enjoys windsurfing, tennis and volleyball in his spare time...his nickname is "Holzi"...German is his first language and he speaks little English...