article by Nicola Pucci
Anything can be said about Maria Epple. Whatever it was less strong than her sister Irene (11 victories to 5 in World Cup races), which unlike its blood relative preferred technical disciplines rather than fast testsma certainly not that she was unable to seize the opportunity of a lifetime. How it happened to her at the Garmisch World Championships in 1978, when he was skilled enough to put that gold medal around his neck (in giant slalom, for the occasion) which is instead missing from the palmares of the eldest in the familyforced to settle for a silver in the downhill (at the German World Championships) and one in the giant slalom at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
Maria was born in Seeg, Bavaria, on 11 March 1959, and if she started skiing following in the footsteps of her older sister, two years older, she already in 1975 he appeared in the World Cupincluded in the national team alongside Irene, Rosi Mittermaier (undisputed queen at the subsequent 1976 Innsbruck Olympics), Pamela Behr and Christa Zechmeister, obtaining a promising ninth place in the Aprica giant slalom in December which was followed in January 1976 , a seventh and a tenth place in the slaloms of Les Gets and Bad Gastein.
Own The Innsbruck Games represent Epple’s first chance at a major international eventhowever having to settle for 23rd place in downhill and 24th in giant slalom, and then, after a 1976/1977 season lacking in satisfaction (only a seventh place in giant slalom in Sun Valley and a tenth in slalom in Furano), climb the merit rankings the following year.
In the first four giant slaloms contested, in fact, Maria achieves the first podium of her career with second place in Val d’Isere behind Lise-Marie Morerodis fourth in Madonna di Campiglio, and within 24 hours, in Les Mosses, with third place in the wake of Morerod herself and Hanni Wenzel and with fourth just 7 hundredths of a second from Fabienne Serrat’s podium, he is a candidate as the protagonist among the wide goals at the World Cup which are scheduled from 29 January to 5 February 1978 on the home snow of Garmisch. Credited with good possibilities even among the narrow posts of the slalomwhich saw her fourth in Bad Gastein and second in Maribor, beaten only by Wenzel by 49 centsand despite a slight knee ligament injury that forced her to miss the two races in Berchtesgaden.
The Epple family starts off on the right foot, with Irene taking the silver medal in downhill on February 1stonly 24 cents away from the unbeatable Annemarie Moser-Pröll, and if two days later, in slalom, Pamela Behr replicates the exploit with second place behind the surprising Austrian Lea SolknerMaria, who dissolved the reservations on her account only two days before but was forced to abandon after a few doors of the first heat, he postpones any desire for a medal to the giant slalom competitionscheduled for February 4th on the track “Horn“.
The first heat ends in a duel in the Epple family, with Irene, who slides down the valley with bib 26, ahead of Maria, bib 9, by 11 hundredths (1’15″99 against 1’16″10), with Morerod provisionally third with a delay of 16 cents, sparking the jubilation of the German enthusiasts present along the route (an estimate of around 35,000) and allowing us to imagine two sisters on the highest steps of the podium as only the French Marielle and Christine Goitschel were able to do at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, in giant slalom as in slalom. But the second heat is more angled, Irene’s sprinting skills are put to the test and finally, with an overall time of 2’42″02, she will slip to fourth place. Morerod, Marie and Moser-Pröll score the same partial time, 1’25″05and then, when recording the final times, little Epple, not yet 19 years old, for the trifle of 5 cents puts the gold medal around her neck, beating the Swiss (winner of the World Cup in 1977) and the Austrian champion, trailing by 75 cents. The hug between Maria and Irene, on the finish line, choking back the tears, seals the golden day of German skiing.
Maria Epple certainly can’t know it yet, but the exploit in giant slalom at the Garmisch World Championships in 1978 will be the pinnacle of a career that will see the youngest of the sisters go through a long period of darknessbetween a few too many injuries and results not up to expectations, returning to excel with a second place in the Waterville Valley giant slalom in the 1979/1980 season (beaten by Wenzel)then his best years were in the four-year period 1981/1985 when he recorded 5 victories in the World Cup, including four in giant slalom between 1981 and 1982the year in which she will be fourth in the general classification, in Zwiesel, Oberstaufen, Aspen and San Sicario, and a final one in slalom, in Arosa on 25 January 1985when just one cent will allow her to beat the American Tamara McKinney and, for the last time, be the best of all.
As he was able to do in Garmisch 1978, when he was worth double…
2024-06-11 12:19:00
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