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NINA ORTLIEB
Nina was born on April 2, 1996 and became a member of the Ski-Club Arlberg at the age of three. As the daughter of an Olympic and World Champion, she developed an enthusiasm and passion for Alpine Ski Racing at an early age. In her early childhood, she therefore participated in the training sessions of Ski-Club Arlberg, which further fueled her devotion to skiing. For this reason, at the age of 11, she decided to attend the Skihauptschule in Schruns and later the Schigymnasium in Stams in order to continue pursuing her dream. After graduating from the Schigymnasium Stams, Nina also studied business administration at the Management Center Innsbruck and was able to complete her bachelor’s degree with distinction.
Nina was able to celebrate athletic success at a young age. From the beginning she was one of the best athletes in her age group. Nina even succeeded several times in becoming the national children champion and youth champion. Then, when it was time to switch from the children competitions to the FIS races, Nina quickly discovered a great fondness for the fast disciplines – Super-G and Downhill. In season 2013/2014, she finally made her breakthrough towards the top of the world. At the age of 17, she was able to achieve several podium finishes in the European Cup and was able to celebrate her World Cup debut at the Super Combination in Zauchensee (Austria).
As one knows from sports, the way to the top in Alpine Ski Racing is also characterized by ups and downs. Nina had to experience this first hand when she was slowed down by a major injury after this promising season. However, she didn’t let it get her down, fought her way back and became Junior World Champion in Giant Slalom and Super-G in the following two seasons. Subsequently, she was allowed to compete in the World Cup Final in 2016 and was able to finish in a strong 11th place.
In season 2017/2018, Nina secured the victory in the overall European Cup standings before finally breaking through to the top of the world in season 2019/2020. At the age of 23, she was already able to celebrate several top 6 finishes in the World Cup, her first podium finish in the World Cup and her first World Cup victory. With this season it became clear that she definitely has the potential for the world’s best. Following this highlight of her career, Nina had to face another low point. A very complex and extensive injury with multiple ligament, tendon, bone and meniscus traumas required 7 surgeries and 23 months of time before she could participate in World Cup races again.
Nina’s commitment, her ambition and the support from her home region helped her not to lose courage, to fight her way through this difficult time and finally to celebrate her comeback. Already at the second race after her long injury break, Nina made it back onto the World Cup podium and finished this race in second place. In her comeback season, she was also able to become Vice World Champion in Downhill and celebrate another World Cup victory in Super-G.
VALENTIN RAINER
Valentin was born on January 2, 1999 and attended kindergarten as well as elementary school in Mils. Afterwards he went to the music secondary school in Imst for four years and graduated after another four years at the upper-level secondary school in Imst.
Valentin achieved his first athletic successes in various club races of the SV Mils as well as in district and regional cup races as an alpine skier. After a serious injury in 2013, he changed sports and from then on remained true to skiing as a freerider. In 2017, Valentin finally joined Ski-Club Arlberg and took part in the SCA Freeride Trainings to prepare himself optimally for his upcoming competitions under the guidance of freeride pro Stefan Häusl.
Over the next few years, Valentin slowly worked his way up from the various junior competitions to 1* and 4* competitions and finally qualified for the Freeride World Tour for the first time in season 2021/2022. The Freeride World Tour is the highest race series in the freeride sector and can be compared with the competitions of the Alpine Ski World Cup.
For this series only 20-25 athletes worldwide classify themselves in the category Ski Men. After the first three competitions, there is a further reduction, in which the 10-12 best athletes finally compete in two final competitions for the world championship title. All other athletes have to compete again in the qualifying events before they get another chance to compete in these finals the next year. Valentin also knows this fate, as he did not make this so-called cut in his first season and thus had to prove his talent again. Valentin’s ambition paid off and he was able to confidently qualify for the Freeride World Tour again in season 2022/2023 with a victory in Obergurgl (Austria) and a second place in Nendaz (Switzerland).
While Valentin was not particularly satisfied with his performance in the first competition of the Freeride World Tour 2023, he was able to really take off in the following competitions. He won the competition in Andorra and finished third in Canada. Valentin started the first final competition in Fieberbrunn (Austria) as the leader. With a strong run and a good 4th place he was able to maintain his overall lead in this competition. At the end of March, the grand finale of the Freeride World Tour was to take place in Verbier (Switzerland), the Mecca of freeride sports. However, due to the bad weather and the enormous avalanche danger, this competition had to be cancelled without replacement. As a result, it was now clear that Valentin’s performance in the past competitions had made him the Overall Winner of the Freeride World Tour 2023 and thus the World Champion.
