) is an
alpine ski racer

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

 on the World Cup

Alpine skiing World Cup

The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...

 circuit. He was Swiss national champion in downhill

Downhill

Downhill is an alpine skiing discipline. The rules for the Downhill were originally developed by Sir Arnold Lunn for the 1921 British National Ski Championships....

 (2003) and Giant Slalom

Giant Slalom skiing

Giant slalom is an alpine skiing discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a greater distance to each other than in slalom but less than in super G....

 (2004). At the 2010 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at Whistler Creekside in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The ten events were scheduled for February 13–27, 2010; weather delayed the first event, the men's downhill, two days until Monday, February 15....

, Défago won the downhill at Whistler to become the Olympic champion.
Défago experienced his best World Cup seasons in 2005

2005 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The 39th World Cup season began in October 2004 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2005 at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The overall winners were Bode Miller of the U.S. and Anja Pärson of Sweden....

, when he finished sixth overall and fourth in the Super-G

Super Giant Slalom skiing

The Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...

 standings, and in 2009

2009 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The 43rd World Cup season began in late October 2008 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in mid-March 2009, at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden.Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the overall title by two points over Benjamin Raich of Austria. Svindal returned from a season-ending injury in December...

, when he won two downhill races in a row, the classics at Wengen

Lauberhorn

The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald. Its summit is at an elevation of 8110 feet above sea level....

 and Kitzbühel

Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel

The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Austria, directly south of Kitzbühel, in the Kitzbühel Alps. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts the annual World Cup alpine ski races, the Hahnenkammrennen...

. He was the first to win these in consecutive weeks since Stephan Eberharter

Stephan Eberharter

Stephan Eberharter is a former alpine ski racer, the winner of the overall World Cup title in 2002 and 2003. He was the nearest rival of compatriot Hermann Maier in the late 1990s and early 2000s...

 in 2002

2002 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The 2002 Alpine Skiing World Cup began in October 2001 and ended in March 2002 at the World Cup finals held in Altenmarkt, Austria. The overall winners were Stephan Eberharter and Michaela Dorfmeister, both from Austria....

, and the first Swiss racer since Franz Heinzer

Franz Heinzer

Franz Heinzer is a former alpine ski racer, who specialized in downhill. He was World Cup champion in downhill three consecutive seasons , second only to Franz Klammer . He won a total of 17 World Cup downhill races, third behind Klammer , and Peter Müller...

 in 1992

1992 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The 26th World Cup season began in November 1991 in the United States and concluded in March 1992 in Switzerland. The overall winners were Paul Accola of Switzerland and Petra Kronberger of Austria....

.

While training on a glacier above Zermatt

Zermatt

Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants....

 in mid-September 2010, Defago fell and injured ligaments in his left knee, ending his 2011

2011 Alpine Skiing World Cup

The 45th FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season began on 23 October 2010, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 20 March 2011, at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.Being an odd-numbered year, the biennial World Championships took place in February...

 season.

Victories

Date	Event	Location	Race
20 December 2002	2003 World Cup 2003 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 37th World Cup season began in October 2002 on Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2003 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall winners were Stephan Eberharter of Austria and Janica Kostelić of Croatia....	Val Gardena, Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	Super-G Super Giant Slalom skiing The Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
18 January 2009	2009 World Cup 2009 Alpine Skiing World Cup The 43rd World Cup season began in late October 2008 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in mid-March 2009, at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden.Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won the overall title by two points over Benjamin Raich of Austria. Svindal returned from a season-ending injury in December...	Wengen Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald. Its summit is at an elevation of 8110 feet above sea level.... , Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....	Downhill
24 January 2009		Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Austria, directly south of Kitzbühel, in the Kitzbühel Alps. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts the annual World Cup alpine ski races, the Hahnenkammrennen... , Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...	Downhill
15 February 2010	2010 Winter Olympics 2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...	Whistler, Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	Downhill

External links

• FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Didier Défago
• Ski-db.com - results - Didier Défago
• Didier Defago.ch - official website
• YouTube video - Didier Défago - Wengen
  Lauberhorn
  The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald. Its summit is at an elevation of 8110 feet above sea level....
  
   victory - 17 January 2009
• YouTube video - Didier Défago - Kitzbühel
  Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel
  The Hahnenkamm is a mountain in Austria, directly south of Kitzbühel, in the Kitzbühel Alps. The elevation of its summit is above sea level.The Hahnenkamm is part of the ski resort of Kitzbühel, and hosts the annual World Cup alpine ski races, the Hahnenkammrennen...
  
   victory on full course - 24 January 2009