Bernhard Russi

Bernhard Russi (born 20 August 1948) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. Born in Andermatt in the canton of Uri, he is an Olympic, World Cup, and World champion in the downhill event.

Russi made his World Cup debut at age 19 in January 1968 at a giant slalom in Adelboden. After two races in 1968 and six in 1969, he joined the World Cup circuit full-time in December 1969. But he (being an unknown ski racer at that time) also was a stuntman in principal filming for »On Her Majesty’s Secret Service« which were made in the Switzerland but he became injured with a fracture of one cervical vertebra. After an injury lay-off he was able (for the first time after a long while) to compete in the Downhill Race at Val d'Isère on December 14th, 1969, becoming 14th, and he could gain World Cup Points at first by recording his first World Cup top ten finish (tenth in the Downhill on January 10th at the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen). But not before achieving a fourth place in the Downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (on February 1st) he was qualified as a Swiss Team Racer at the 1970 World Championships, and won his first event, the downhill at the ahead of Karl Cordin of Austria and Australian Malcolm Milne. It was a race with fresh snow, he was the 15th racer - a good number for such conditions. He did win with a hand fracture which he did suffer a week before in a practice race, therefore he did race that actual run with pain. But to be able to win there was another method necessary: His coach (Mr. Paul Berlinger) did scrap off skiwax directly before the start, Russi did race without skiwax. Because the result of the World Championships 1970 (here) at Val Gardena did count as a World Cup race too, his win also was a World Cup Race victory. Two years later at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, he won the gold medal in the same discipline on Mt. Eniwa. Countryman Roland Collombin secured the silver and a Swiss "double victory." Russi won the World Cup season title in downhill in 1971 and 1972. Anew, he was awarded as "Swiss sportsman of the Year", also he was awarded with the "Skieur d’Or" ("Best World Ski Racer of the Year") und the "Étoile d’Or" ("The Star in Gold").

His performance in the 1974 World Championships in his home country Switzlerland was disappointing by only finishing 13th in the Downhill.

At the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Russi nearly retained his Olympic title with a very fast time in the downhill at Patscherkofel, but took the silver medal. He finished 0.33 seconds behind Franz Klammer of Austria, who started 15th, the last of the top seeds. To date (2014) no men's Olympic champion in the downhill has successfully defended his title.

Like in 1974, he couldn't achieve a good result in the 1978 World Championships, when he finished 14th in the Downhill. As a result of this he retired from international competition a few days later (he did announce his prompt retirement on February 2nd, 1978) with 10 World Cup victories, 28 podiums, and 52 top ten finishes. In addition to his two downhill titles in 1971 and 1972, Russi was second in 1973 and third in 1976 and 1977. His best finish in the overall standings was fifth, achieved three times in 1971, 1972, and 1977

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics also served as the world championships for alpine skiing. During the early seasons of the World Cup, the Olympics (1968) and world championships (1970) were included in the World Cup season standings; these major competitions were excluded beginning with the 1971 season.

Russi currently serves as the chairman of the FIS Alpine Committee and is a FIS technical advisor for downhill course design. Beginning with the 1988 Winter Olympics, Russi has been noted as the designer of the downhill courses for the Olympics, and also he did designe such courses for the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships. The »rattlesnake«-course at Vail in 1989 was a "formidable challenge" to him. Another famouse course was the »Face de Bellevarde« at Val-d’Isère (1992 Winter Olympics), and he was the construction supervisor at the downhill course »Rosa Chutor« at Krasnaja Poljana (2014 Winter Olympics). This stemmed from dissatisfaction with the courses at the 1980 and 1984 games; since Russi took over, there have been few complaints.

He also serves as a commentator for alpine ski racing on Swiss television. - He also is an advertiser for Japanese car Subaru and for several Swiss companies. After dissolution from his wife Michèle Rubi (a three times Swiss Skiing Champion in 1970) he is wedded to Mari Bergström from Sweden. He has a son from his first wife and a daughter from his second wife.

Season titles

Season standings

Race podiums

• 10 wins – (9 DH, 1 GS)
• 28 podiums – (27 DH, 1 GS)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Place
1970	15 Feb 1970	Val Gardena, Italy – (W.Ch.) ^	Downhill	1st
1971	16 Jan 1971	St. Moritz, Switzerland	Downhill	2nd
	31 Jan 1971	Megève, France	Downhill	1st
	13 Feb 1971	Mt. Ste. Anne, Canada	Giant Slalom	1st
	18 Feb 1971	Sugarloaf, USA	Downhill	1st
1972	5 Dec 1972	St. Moritz, Switzerland	Downhill	1st
	14 Jan 1972	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill	3rd
	1972 Winter Olympics
	25 Feb 1972	Crystal Mtn, USA	Downhill	1st
	26 Feb 1972		Downhill	2nd
	25 Mar 1972	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill	1st
1973	7 Jan 1973	Garmisch, West Germany	Downhill	3rd
	13 Jan 1973	Grindelwald, Switzerland	Downhill	1st
	27 Jan 1973	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill	2nd
	3 Feb 1973	St. Anton, Austria	Downhill	1st
1974	22 Dec 1973	Schladming, Austria	Downhill	3rd
1975	26 Jan 1975	Innsbruck, Austria	Downhill	2nd
	21 Mar 1975	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill	3rd
1976	7 Dec 1975	Val-d'Isère, France	Downhill	3rd
	9 Jan 1976	Wengen, Switzerland	Downhill	3rd
	17 Jan 1976	Morzine, France	Downhill	2nd
	1976 Winter Olympics
1977	18 Dec 1976	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill	3rd
	15 Jan 1977	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill	3rd
	22 Jan 1977	Wengen, Switzerland	Downhill	3rd
	30 Jan 1977	Morzine, France	Downhill	1st
	31 Jan 1977		Downhill	3rd
	18 Feb 1977	Laax, Switzerland	Downhill	3rd
	12 Mar 1977	Heavenly Valley, USA	Downhill	3rd
1978	22 Dec 1977	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Downhill	2nd

^ Results from the 1970 World Championships (and 1968 Winter Olympics) were included in the World Cup standings.

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.

• Video – 1972 Winter Olympics – men's downhill – gold & bronze medalists – from Japanese television – 1972-02-05 on YouTube