Athlete profile: Michaela Dorfmeister

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

Athlete notes

Just two years removed from a 10th-place overall finish in the World Cup standings, Dorfmeister is looking to regroup from a relatively poor showing a season ago...she finished in the top 10 in the downhill, Super G, and combined standings in 1996 but, according to Austrian women's head coach Raimund Berger, suffered from bad judgment in ski shopping last year..."Michaela had also a very good season two years ago," says Berger. "Then she changed her material, especially her skis. I think this was a big mistake. For this season, she changed back to the old skis (Blizzard). She grew up with these skis and she has familiarity with these skis and so I think she feels stronger and stronger this year. She has a mental strength"...the new skis appear to be functioning well so far as Dorfmeister finished fourth at the season's first downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta...Dorfmeister's career highlight came in the 1996 season when she registered her lone World Cup win in front of the home crowd in St. Anton...she is primarily looking to improve her mental approach..."Last year was not a good year," says Dorfmeister, "I had problems mentally, in my mind. I also need to drive better in the downhill. My steeps are better than my flats"...Berger agrees that Michael is a talented technical skier, "She is a strong technical ," he contends. "She was in the first group in GS. She's not racing now in GS but in January we will start her in GS"...currently in her fourth World Cup season, Dorfmeister began skiing when she was three years old...she started to compete when she was six...her father is a butcher, though he did competitive cycling in his free time, while her mother is a hair stylist...she enjoys playing golf...Michaela speaks some English...