Ski world champion Andre Arnold
Professional ski world champion, ski racing camp, winter sports in schools, snow sports promotion in Imst, ski club board, district board, TSV advisor, vice-president of the Ski World Cup Sölden, Champions 4-TSV,....Andre Arnold was not only a professional skier, but is a winter sportsman with passion and soul and a big heart for the next generation.
World champion title
Years of Racing Camp
Hotel businesses
MY YOUTH... In my younger years, I didn't have much interest in racing. However, I enjoyed skiing downhill through the woods, ski jumping and playing in the snow. The coach at the Ski Club Sölden at the time, Georg Plörer, always motivated me to come to training. From the age of 14, he also managed to get me interested in racing. Georg also became a successful coach during my school years. Together with two other club colleagues from Ski Club Sölden, we took it in turns to win all the races throughout Europe.
It continued like this in his youth. Austrian youth champion in slalom and second in giant slalom as well as several victories and top placings in various races, including German youth champion at the international championships. I was the youngest member of the Austrian national C team.
However, many injuries prevented him from continuing his career quickly. By the age of 19, I had worked my way back up through the European Cup. In the slalom, I was in fourth place out of all the Austrians with FIS points. I was therefore able to train with Team A and gain experience.
However, a personal fate, namely the death of my father and a protracted case of pyelonephritis, prevented me from celebrating successes. My World Cup appearances were too early after the illness and so I didn't have enough strength to ride well.
The next missions failed to materialize. My slalom shoe was broken and no equivalent replacement shoe could be supplied.
That's why I decided to switch to the pros in the USA with two friends.
IN THE USA... New sponsors such as Tyrolia bindings, Raichle boots, Alpina ski goggles, Scott ski poles, Elesse and Silvy ski clothing gave us the confidence to ski a season in the USA. On our glacier in Sölden we were able to prepare ourselves perfectly. Even then, I realized that I was getting on really well with the new materials and could ski on ice like on powder snow. A difference I could never have imagined before.I finished the first race in second place. My motivation exceeded all limits. As they say in Tyrolean: "He's tasted blood."
After a tough battle with Sepp Odermatt from Switzerland, I won the world championship title in my first year as a professional skier. Only Jean Claude Killy had managed this before. In my second year as a professional, some of my fellow competitors from the World Cup, who were still so-called "amateurs" at the time, joined the pros and wanted to make life difficult for me. Hansi Hinterseer, the best slalom and giant slalom skier in the Austrian national team at the time, was considered the favorite by journalists. At the end of the season, I was again world champion ahead of Hinterseer. That meant I broke Duvillard's record.In my third professional year, it was clear to me that I wanted to become world champion again to set a new record. No one had ever managed to become world champion three times before. It was a tough battle between me, Hinterseer, Walter Tresch from Switzerland - the World Cup winner at the time - and Lonny Vanatta from the USA. One weekend I didn't make it into the top 16 in the slalom and giant slalom, and then I left the race slope in tears. By the time the next race came around, I was able to recover and return to my usual form. At the end of the season, I was once again assured of the third world championship title and the long-awaited record. Lonny Vanatta was the lucky runner-up. A lot of the pressure that I had put on myself throughout the season was gone. But I gained even more experience. In my fourth year as a professional, I was riding without pressure and everything went by itself. I rode from victory to victory. I was almost always on the podium and scored more points than my opponents every weekend. After the first year, that was the best year in which I simply enjoyed ski racing. The fourth world championship title went to me almost by the way. Hansi Hinterseer came second behind me in the World Championships for the second time.
My career ended abruptly after four successful years due to a serious knee injury in a fall.
To this day, I look back on those wonderful times with joy and, of course, my heart still beats for sport in the mountains.
