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| Born | (1964-01-24)24 January 1964 (age 61) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Super-G,giant slalom Downhill,combined | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 - (1984,1988,1992,1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 - (1987,1989,1991,1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 3 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 13 - (1982–1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 22 - (12SG, 10GS) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 - (2nd in1992, 3rd in1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 6 - (4SG, 2GS) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Carole Merle (French pronunciation:[ka.ʁɔlmɛʁl]; born 24 January 1964) is a formerFrenchAlpine skier. A specialist ofGiant slalom andSuper-G, she won 22World Cup races, 6 World Cup season titles and 1World Championship gold medal.[1]
A native ofLe Sauze [fr], a ski resort ofEnchastrayes commune where her parents ran a hotel, Merle learned to ski at a very young age. She took part in her first competition as a six-year-old, and made her World Cup debut at 18. On 23 January 1983, she took her first World Cup podium with a third-place finish in giant slalom atSt. Gervais. But it took another few years for her to reach her full potential.[2]
Her first World Cup win came on 6 January 1988 atTignes. The following season saw her bag the World cup title in Super-G, finishing 4 points ahead of 1988 Olympic championSigrid Wolf. Merle went on to win the Super-G season title 4 years in a row (1989–1992), a feat only equalled in later years byKatja Seizinger of Germany (1993–1996) andLindsey Vonn of the USA (2009–2012). In addition, Merle won the giant slalom World Cup in 1992 and 1993. These two same years, she finished 2nd (behind Austria'sPetra Kronberger) and 3rd in the World Cup overall standings.[2]
At the1989 World Championships inVail she won a silver medal in the giant slalom, two years later at the1991 World Championships inSaalbach she won another medal and at the1993 World Championships inMorioka she finally won the gold medal in the giant slalom. At the1992 Olympics inAlbertville she won a silver medal in the Super-G event.[1]
Merle retired at the end of the 1994 ski season. During her career, she had earnings of more than 20 million French francs, which an uncle was managing on her behalf. In 1997, she made headlines when she publicly announced she had lost everything and had accumulated more than 70 million in debts, accusing her uncle of mismanaging her fortune.[3]
She later settled away from the ski slopes, in aCamargue farmhouse, to pursue her passion for horses. In a 2012 interview for French newspaperLe Dauphiné libéré, she claimed she had not skied for at least six years, but added she would never miss a ski World Cup on TV.[4]
| Season | Age | Overall | Super-G | Giant slalom | Downhill | Combine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 18 | 71 | - | 38 | - | 26 |
| 1983 | 19 | 38 | - | 14 | 31 | - |
| 1984 | 20 | 28 | - | 10 | - | 24 |
| 1985 | 21 | 58 | - | 27 | - | - |
| 1986 | 22 | 40 | 31 | 12 | 28 | - |
| 1987 | 23 | 60 | - | 23 | - | - |
| 1988 | 24 | 19 | - | 6 | 24 | - |
| 1989 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 1990 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 10 | - |
| 1991 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 4 | - |
| 1992 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | - |
| 1993 | 29 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | - |
| 1994 | 30 | 20 | 24 | 8 | 53 | - |
| Season | Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 6 January 1988 |  Tignes, France | Giant slalom |
| 1989 | 26 November 1988 |  Schladming, Austria | Super-G |
| 14 January 1989 |  Grindelwald, Switzerland | Super-G | |
| 20 January 1989 | Tignes, France | Super-G | |
| 1990 | 10 February 1990 | Méribel, France | Super-G |
| 11 February 1990 | Super-G | ||
| 10 March 1990 |  Stranda, Norway | Giant slalom | |
| 14 March 1990 |  Klövsjö, Sweden | Giant slalom | |
| 16 March 1990 | Åre, Sweden | Super-G | |
| 1991 | 9 February 1991 |  Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany | Super-G |
| 24 February 1991 |  Furano, Japan | Super-G | |
| 1992 | 15 December 1991 |  Santa Caterina, Italy | Super-G |
| 15 January 1992 | Hinterstoder, Austria | Giant slalom | |
| 20 January 1992 | Piancavallo, Italie | Giant slalom | |
| 27 January 1992 | Morzine, France | Giant slalom | |
| 15 March 1992 |  Panorama, Canada | Super-G | |
| 19 March 1992 | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | Super-G | |
| 21 March 1992 | Giant slalom | ||
| 1993 | 5 January 1993 |  Maribor, Slovenia | Giant slalom |
| 10 January 1993 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italie | Giant slalom | |
| 28 February 1993 | Veysonnaz, Switzerland | Super-G | |
| 27 March 1993 | Åre,Sweden | Giant slalom |
