Didier Défago

Who is Didier Défago?

Didier Défago is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland.

Born in Morgins, Valais, Défago made his World Cup debut at age 18 in March 1996, and was Swiss national champion in downhill and Giant Slalom. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, he won the downhill at Whistler to become the Olympic champion.

Défago finished the 2005 World Cup season as sixth overall and fourth in the Super-G, his most successful season so far. In 2009 he won two downhill races in a row, the classics at Wengen and Kitzbühel. He was the first to win these in consecutive weeks since Stephan Eberharter in 2002, and the first Swiss racer since Franz Heinzer in 1992.

While training on a glacier above Zermatt in mid-September 2010, Defago fell and injured ligaments in his left knee, ending his 2011 season.