Teen sensation chooses SA for Winter Olympics debut

Turning 19 on her first day of competition, Lara Markthaler is excited about racing her older idols and putting South African winter sports on the world map

- By Annemieke Thomaidis

South Africa has found unlikely momentum on the snow. The country has not sent anyone to the Winter Olympics since the 2018 Games that were held in PyeongChang, China. This year, it is sending five athletes, the biggest delegation in South African snow sports history.

Nicole Burger broke ground as the first South African woman to qualify in skeleton racing, Matt Smith qualified for cross-country skiing in just two years, Malica Malherbe will represent in the freestyle and Thomas Weir (17) is showing promise in alpine. And Lara Markthaler (18) will race the slalom and giant slalom.

Born in Munich to a German father and South African mother, Markthaler started skiing when she was 18 months old.

"My dad used to ski when he was younger, and so I didn't really have a choice but to start skiing," she told Daily Maverick. "In the beginning, the plan wasn't really to become a professional skier."

When Markthaler was eight years old, her family left Munich for Canada, where she took up mountain biking. A natural athlete, she quickly excelled in the sport and racked up six gold medals in Red Bull's coveted Crankworx competitions.

When she turned 12, her parents asked what she might think about taking sports all the way, either in mountain biking or skiing.

"I ended up picking skiing," said Markthaler. A major reason for this, she said, is because skiing is an Olympic sport but downhill mountain biking is not.