Werner Heel

Werner Heel (born 23 March 1982) is an Italian former World Cup alpine ski racer.

Werner Heel

Heel in July 2011
Personal information
Born	(1982-03-23) 23 March 1982 (age 43) Merano, Italy
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, Super-G, Combined
Club	G.S. Fiamme Gialle
World Cup debut	28 December 2001 (age 19)
Website	wernerheel.com
Olympics
Teams	2 – (2010, 2014)
Medals	0
World Championships
Teams	5 – (2007–15)
Medals	0
World Cup
Seasons	11 – (2006–16)
Wins	3 – (1 DH, 2 SG)
Podiums	10 – (5 DH, 5 SG)
Overall titles	0 – (16th in 2009, 2013)
Discipline titles	0 – (2nd in SG, 2009)

Early life and career

Born in Meran, Heel grew up in St. Leonhard in Passeier and currently resides in Meran, where he works as a police officer. Heel began skiing at the age of four, and his main disciplines are downhill and super-G. In order to be competitive in super combined he also practices slalom. In 2004 he won the Italian championship in super-G at Caspoggio. His career has been slowed by several injuries.^{[citation needed]}

European Cup

During the 2005 season, Heel achieved his best results in the European Cup with two third places in the downhill races in Roccaraso and Bad Kleinkirchheim and a fourth place in the super-G race in Tarvisio.

World championships

He participated in the 2007 World Championships in Åre without finishing his run in the Super Combined, and placed 27th in the super-G.

World Cup

Heel debuted in the World Cup on 28 December 2001 at the Stelvio downhill in Bormio, finishing 37th. In the 2007 season, he achieved his first top ten finish at the Kvitfjell downhill and finished 12th at Lake Louise.

The 2008 season started very well for Heel, finishing 11th in the Lake Louise downhill.^[1] He won his first race on 29 February 2008 in the Kvitfjell downhill. One day later he reconfirmed his potential finishing third in the second Kvitfjell World Cup downhill. He concluded the 2008 season with his best super-G result, a 7th place in Bormio on 13 March 2008. Near his hometown, Heel won the Super-G at Val Gardena on 19 December 2008. On 12 March 2009 he concluded his outstanding 2008/2009 season with a super-G victory in Åre, finishing second in the overall super-G world cup.^[2]

Heel races on Atomic skis.

Season standings

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Super G	Downhill	Combined
2005	22	136	—	—	42	—	—
2006	23	83	—	—	36	41	29
2007	24	74	—	—	32	33	36
2008	25	24	—	—	21	5	38
2009	26	16	—	—	2	11	26
2010	27	18	—	—	17	3	26
2011	28	34	—	—	14	22	—
2012	29	97	—	—	35	45	—
2013	30	16	—	—	4	10	—
2014	31	40	—	—	22	19	—
2015	32	38	—	—	33	15	—
2016	33	108	—	—	—	41	—
2017	34	120	—	—	—	41	—
2018	35	136	—	—	—	48	—

• Standings through 28 January 2018

Race podiums

• 3 wins – (1 DH, 2 SG)
• 10 podiums – (5 DH, 5 SG)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline	Place
2008	29 Feb 2008	Kvitfjell, Norway	Downhill	1st
	1 Mar 2008		Downhill	3rd
2009	19 Dec 2008	Val Gardena, Italy	Super G	1st
	12 Mar 2009	Åre, Sweden	Super G	1st
2010	28 Nov 2009	Lake Louise, Canada	Downhill	2nd
	12 Dec 2009	Val d'Isère, France	Super G	3rd
	23 Jan 2010	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill	3rd
2013	14 Dec 2012	Val Gardena, Italy	Super G	3rd
	3 Mar 2013	Kvitfjell, Norway	Super G	3rd
2015	7 Mar 2015		Downhill	3rd

World Championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2007	24	—	—	27	—	DNF1
2009	26	—	—	14	7	—
2011	28	—	—	8	22	—
2013	30	—	—	20	16	—
2015	32	—	—	26	32	—

Olympic results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant   slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
2010	27	—	—	4	12	—
2014	31	—	—	17	12	—

Personal life

Heel has been in a relationship with fellow alpine skier Manuela Mölgg since 2009:^[3][4] as of 2018 the couple were engaged.^[5]