Mario Stecher

Mario Stecher is an Austrian former Nordic combined skier who competed at six Winter Olympics across a 21-year career, winning two Olympic team gold medals.

In 1994, at just 16 years old, Mario Stecher became the youngest winner in the history of the Holmenkollen Nordic combined event, a record that still stands. He made his World Cup debut in 1993, and the following year, aged just 16, became the youngest-ever winner of a Nordic combined event at the prestigious Holmenkollen ski festival in Norway. Stecher competed at six consecutive Winter Olympics between 1994 and 2014, winning team event medals at four of them: gold at the 2006 Turin and 2010 Vancouver Games, and bronze at both the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2014 Sochi Games. His best individual Olympic finish came at Vancouver in 2010, where he placed fifth in the normal hill individual event. Stecher won six medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, including team golds on both the normal and large hill at the 2011 championships, and amassed 13 World Cup victories and 49 career podium finishes over his two-decade career. He announced his retirement in February 2015 after being left off Austria's team for that year's World Championships, closing out a career that began 21 years earlier. He married fellow Austrian Olympic alpine skier Carina Raich in 2008, making him the brother-in-law of skiing star Benjamin Raich, and later worked in sports management in Tyrol.

Consistent, technically skilled Nordic combined athlete strong in the team relay format

One of Austria's most enduring Nordic combined competitors, part of a golden generation alongside Felix Gottwald

• 2x Olympic gold, team event (2006, 2010)
• 2x Olympic bronze, team event (2002, 2014)
• 6x World Championship medallist
• 13x World Cup event winner
• Youngest-ever winner at Holmenkollen (1994, aged 16)