Marion Kreiner

World Snowboard Champion

„Don’t count the days, make the days count.“ (Muhammad Ali)

Marion Kreiner was born in Graz in 1981 and is considered one of Austria’s most successful female snowboarders. Already as a child, she knew how to assert her will and pursue her goals. She first stood on a snowboard at the age of twelve during a school skiing course and was immediately hooked. The skis were relegated to the basement, and Kreiner improved her snowboarding skills so much that she was already competing in her first races by 1994. She has been a member of the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) squad since the 1999/2000 season and competed in her first FIS and European Cup races with them before taking part in her first World Cup race in January 2002.

Marion Kreiner competed in World Cup races not only in parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom, but also in snowboard cross at the beginning of her career. She celebrated her first World Cup victory in Sölden in 2007. She achieved her greatest World Championship successes in the parallel disciplines: Gold (2009) in Gangwon, South Korea, in parallel giant slalom, silver (2007) in Arosa, Switzerland, in parallel slalom and bronze (2015) at the World Championships on home soil in Lachtal/Kreischberg, Austria, also in parallel slalom.

One of the most significant moments in her career was winning the bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Two small crystal globes for first place in the overall World Cup standings in parallel giant slalom in 2012/13 and 2014/15, second place in the overall World Cup standings in 2012/13 and 2014/15, and other top placings in various rankings rounded off her successful years in the World Cup. Over the course of her career, she competed in a total of 145 individual races, winning five of them and standing on the podium 25 times.

These successes were the result of years of work. Snow training alone was not enough for her. To remain among the world’s best, Kreiner invested a great deal of time and energy in meticulously developing and fine-tuning her equipment and also devoted herself to mental training.

In the summer of 2016, Marion Kreiner announced her retirement from competitive sports to complete her studies in business psychology and to promote young sporting talent in the future. She has been pursuing this goal since April 2017 as a city councilor for the city of Graz, and in June 2018 she also took over as managing director of the Graz ÖVP. Last but not least, her political work also focuses on communicating the importance of sport and exercise as the basis for a healthy life.