Pernilla Wiberg (SWE)

DOB:  10/15/1970  Hometown:  Borlänge

With all due respect to the other superstars, Pernilla Wiberg has racked up more victories and medals coming back from adversity than any other female ski racer. Wiberg won the Overall World Cup victory in '97, and has claimed six gold medals in three different events since '91. Wiberg is the most dominant athletes on the women's World Cup tour since the departure of Katia Seizinger and Deborah Compagnoni. The Swede has also won 23 World Cup events in all five alpine disciplines during an impressive career that has also been marred by serious injury.

In fact, last season marked yet another comeback for the 29-year-old Wiberg who now lives in Monte-Carlo. Plagued by health problems in the months before the '98 Nagano Olympics, Wiberg was not able to compete on the same level that won her the Crystal Globe after winning eight events. In Nagano, she scored a silver medal in downhill at Hakuba behind Germany's Katja Seizinger, but fell in the combined slalom while fighting for that Olympic title.

After a slow start last season, Wiberg regained her style at Maribor, Slovenia, and won her 14th World Cup slalom. She went on to take silver in slalom and she dominated the combined at the Vail World Championships, finishing ahead of the '97 winner, Austria's Renate Goetschl, for the gold medal.

Since September 1998, Wiberg has been training with the Norwegian Ski Team to be close to her boyfriend, Bodvar Bjoerke, a trainer for Norway. Wiberg, a very strong-minded athlete, also has been successful in the business of product endorsement. She trains remarkably hard in the off-season and she feels good enough to compete for more gold at the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent