Blanca Fernández Ochoa (22 April 1963 – 23 August 2019)[1] was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Spain. Born in Madrid, she competed in four Winter Olympics, from 1980 through 1992.
 Fernández Ochoa in October 2006 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 22 April 1963 Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||||
| Died | August 23, 2019 (aged 56) La Peñota, Cercedilla, Spain | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Giant slalom, slalom, combined, super-G | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | March 1992 - (age 28) | ||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 – (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (bronze) | ||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 6 – (1980–1991) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 10 – (1982–1992) | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 4 – (1 GS, 3 SL) | ||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 20 – (12 GS, 8 SL) | ||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (4th in 1988) | ||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (3rd, three times) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Career
editHer four siblings all competed in alpine ski racing for Spain in the Winter Olympics: Dolores, Francisco, Juan Manuel, and Luis. Francisco (1950-2006) won the gold medal in slalom at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.[citation needed]
She received the Premio Reina Sofía for best athlete in 1983 and 1988 by Consejo Superior de Deportes at Premios Nacionales del Deporte.[2] She also received the Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo in 1994.[3] At the 1992 Olympics at Albertville, France, Blanca won the bronze medal in slalom.[citation needed]
During her World Cup career, she had 4 victories, 20 podiums, and 69 top ten finishes.[4]
On July 18, 1991, she married Italian Daniel Fioretto in the Monastery of El Escorial. They ended up divorcing and she contracted a second marriage with David Fresneda, with whom she had two children, David (born 2000) and Olivia (born 1999), although this marriage also ended in divorce.[5] The children live with their father.[1]
She was reported as missing on 23 August 2019[6] and found dead by a police officer on 4 September 2019 near La Peñota, in the Guadarrama Mountains.[7][8] Policía Nacional believed it was not an accidental death in a safe area and there were not traumas.[9] On 5 September 2019 it was declared she died from a suicide because lithium tablets and a bottle of wine were found near her body.[10] She died the same day of the disappearance at the age of 56.[11]
World Cup results
editSeason standings
edit| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 18 | 55 | — | 28 | not run | — | — |
| 1983 | 19 | 27 | 26 | — | not awarded |
— | — |
| 1984 | 20 | 36 | 27 | 19 | — | — | |
| 1985 | 21 | 10 | 16 | 7 | — | 8 | |
| 1986 | 22 | 31 | — | 10 | 31 | — | 19 |
| 1987 | 23 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 9 | — | — |
| 1988 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | — | 9 |
| 1989 | 25 | 18 | 8 | 19 | 26 | — | — |
| 1990 | 26 | injured, did not compete | |||||
| 1991 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 17 | — | — | — |
| 1992 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 53 | — | — |
Points were only awarded for top ten finishes thru 1979, top 15 thru 1991 (see scoring system).
Race victories
edit- 4 wins (1 GS, 3 SL)
- 20 podiums (12 GS, 8 SL), 69 top tens
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 3 March 1985 |  Vail, USA |
Giant slalom |
| 1988 | 26 November 1987 |  Sestriere, Italy |
Slalom |
| 1991 | 22 December 1990 |  Morzine, France |
Slalom |
| 1992 | 1 December 1991 |  Lech, Austria |
Slalom |
World Championship results
edit| Year | Location | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Lake Placid, United States | 16 | 18 | ||||
| 1982 | Schladming, Austria | 18 | |||||
| 1985 | Bormio, Italy | 21 | 14 | 9 | DNF | ||
| 1987 | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 23 | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 1989 | Vail, United States | 25 | 4 | 7 | |||
| 1991 | Saalbach, Austria | 27 | DNF |
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results
edit| Year | Location | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Lake Placid, United States | 16 | — | 18 | not run |
— | not run |
| 1984 | Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | 20 | DNF2 | 6 | — | ||
| 1988 | Calgary, Canada | 24 | 5 | DNF2 | 21 | — | — |
| 1992 | Albertville, France | 28 | 3 | 12 | — | — | — |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b La Policía descarta la muerte accidental y violenta de Blanca Fernández Ochoa , elconfidencial.com, 4 September 2019
- ^ "Histórico de premiados en los Premios Nacionales del Deporte". Consejo Superior de Deportes (in Spanish). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ Merino, Juan Manuel (22 December 1994). "El deporte español premia a todos sus héroes" (PDF). mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- ^ Pacor, Matteo (15 March 2008). "Blanca Fernández-Ochoa". ski-db.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ Verdades, mentiras y muchas incógnitas en la desaparición de Blanca Fernández Ochoa, elcierredigital.com 3. September 2019
- ^ "Blanca Fernandez Ochoa: Winter Olympic medallist reported missing". BBC World. BBC News. BBC. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ Durán, Luis F.; Alsedo, Quico (4 September 2019). "Hallan muerta a Blanca Fernández Ochoa". El Mundo.
- ^ "Un agente fuera de servicio localizó el cadáver de Blanca Fernández Ochoa cuando paseaba con su perro por el pico de La Peñota". La Sexta Noticias (in Spanish). Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ F. Durán, Luis; Alsedo, Quico (5 September 2019). "La Policía cree que la muerte de Blanca Fernández Ochoa no fue accidental". El Mundo (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial Información General, S.L.U. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ Morcillo, Cruz (5 September 2019). "Hallan pastillas de litio y una botella de vino junto al cadáver de Blanca Fernández Ochoa". ABC (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Blanca Fernández Ochoa habría muerto el día de su desaparición y no presenta un golpe en la cabeza". Antena 3 Noticias (in Spanish). Antena 3. Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
External links
edit- Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Blanca Fernandez Ochoa at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Blanca Fernández Ochoa at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)