Stephanie Venier and her boyfriend Christian Walder. © KEYSTONE / ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE

Austria's Gold Heroine and the Secret Love Visit

Stephanie Venier redeemed an entire nation with her gold medal at the Ski World Championships. Afterwards, a love secret was revealed.

06. February 2025

From Saalbach-Hinterglemm

The mood was not dramatic, but a little tense. When the Austrians started the home World Championships without a medal after the botched team event, many of the red-white-red writers had a bad feeling. But then Stephanie Venier came along, conjured up an absolute dream run in the women's Super-G on the Ulli Maier slope and surprisingly won the gold medal!

The almost 15.000 fans in the finish area of ​​Saalbach-Hinterglemm were absolutely thrilled and celebrated their gold heroine. She had tears of joy in her eyes at the awards ceremony - and she was not the only one in the ÖSV camp. "World champion sounds unreal. It all just clicked for me," she said afterwards, completely overwhelmed.

tears of joy for her loved one

One special fan was cheering and cheering in the stands and his name is Christian Walder. He is Stephanie Venier's boyfriend and actually a ski racer himself, but has been injured for a year. Walder not only shed tears of joy in the stands, but also Small newspaper also revealed a special anecdote.

Stephanie Venier won the gold medal. © APA / EXPA/JOHANN GRODER

"I was secretly with her the night before the gold trip," said the 33-year-old, speaking of turbulent hours. "At some point she woke me up and said she had had a nightmare and hadn't slept a minute. Then she opened the window because she was hot. A little later she asked me to please close the window again because she was cold again. I couldn't resist asking her what was wrong with her. And the next morning she said she had slept well anyway," said Walder.

The Austrian said of his loved one's medal: "I'm happier than if I had won myself." If that isn't true love...