Background
Born in Moûtiers, Savoie, Pinturault grew up in Annecy. His mother, Hege Wiig Pinturault, is from Bergen, Norway, and he spent many of his childhood summers in Norway at Hestnesøy, near Grimstad.
Born in Moûtiers, Savoie, Pinturault grew up in Annecy. His mother, Hege Wiig Pinturault, is from Bergen, Norway, and he spent many of his childhood summers in Norway at Hestnesøy, near Grimstad.
Pinturault has fifteen World Cup victories through March 04, 2016. A week before his 18th birthday, Pinturault made his World Cup debut in March 2009 in Åre, Sweden. His first podium came two years later in March 2011, a runner-up finish in giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
That fall, he was also a runner-up at Sölden in October 2011, and gained his first World Cup victory in February 2012, in the parallel slalom in Moscow, Russia.
2013 season
Pinturault was unable to make the season start in Sölden in October 2012, as he injured his ankle while playing tennis and had to pause for a three-month period. After placing 22nd in the downhill portion, he finished 1.15 seconds ahead of Ivica Kostelić of Croatia.
The training run for the downhill portion was his first time on downhill skis for months, as he missed pre-season speed training after surgery on his left ankle in August to repair ligaments damaged while playing tennis. Pinturault did not medal at the world championships in 2013, but had four top-six finishes.
Second after the first run, Pinturault"s total time was 0.60 seconds ahead of runner-up Hirscher.
On 15 March, he was honored as the 2013 Longines Rising Star, as the top young racer (under 23) of the season. Pinturault changed equipment after the 2014 season, from Salomon to Head. Season titles
1 title – (1 Combined)
1 Unofficial, tied with Ivica Kostelić2 Unofficial, tied with Ted Ligety
Season standings
Only two combined races scheduled.
A crystal globe was not awarded.
However, athletes still get their medals. Race podiums
15 wins – (1 SG, 6 GS, 2 SL, 5 South Carolina, 1 Personal)
36 podiums – (3 SG, 20 GS, 3 SL, 8 South Carolina, 2 Personal).
He represented France at three World Championships (2011, 2013, and 2015), and at the Winter Olympics in 2014, where he won a bronze medal in the giant slalom. He was a two-time world junior champion in giant slalom, in 2009 and 2011. He has dual citizenship and was a double junior world champion in giant slalom in 2009 and 2011. In December, he won his second World Cup race in a slalom at Val-d"Isère, where he thrilled the home fans with a brilliant second run under the floodlights to rise from sixth place. He convincingly beat Germany"s Felix Neureuther by half a second and future World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher, who led by 0.57 seconds after the first run. Pinturault"s third win was at the super-combined in Wengen, Switzerland, where his superior slalom skills were key. A week later he claimed a fourth World Cup win, his first in giant slalom, at Garmisch, Germany.
