The high point of the Benjamin Karl biography to date would probably be his Silver Medal in the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 and the Bronze he won more recently in Sochi would be a close second. I say this as the Olympics is the pinnacle of the sport.
However, it does not speak of the consistency that Karl has managed in alpine slalom snowboarding over the last decade or so.
| QUICK FACTS |
| Age: 29 |
| Stance: Regular |
| Nationality: AUT |
| Disciplines: Parallel Giant Slalom & Parallel Slalom |
| Home Turf: Union Trendsport Weichberger |
FIS World Cup Events
He has finished in the top 10 in well over half the world cup events he has entered and he’s in the top 3 half of the time he makes the top 10. And when he makes the podium? Well he’s on the top of it more than half the times he’s in the top 3. So he certainly knows how to win.
Karl is slightly stronger in the Parallel Giant Slalom but certainly still very strong in the parallel slalom.
| Events Entered | Wins | Top 3’s | Top 10’s | |
| Parallel GS | 56 | 9 (16%) | 18 (32%) | 34 (61%) |
| Parallel Slalom | 34 | 5 (15%) | 8 (24%) | 19 (56%) |
| TOTAL | 90 | 14 (16%) | 26 (29%) | 53 (59%) |
FIS World Snowboarding Championships
Karl has competed in 3 world championships and has a remarkable record. 4 Gold Medals in 6 events entered is extremely impressive! He has 2 apiece in Parallel GS and Parallel Slalom.
So I think it’s safe to say that he has been the dominant force on an alpine slalom snowboard over the last 3 championships.
| Year | Location | Parallel Slalom | Parallel GS |
| 2009 | Gangwon, South Korea | GOLD | 4th |
| 2011 | La Molina, Spain | GOLD | GOLD |
| 2013 | Stoneham, Canada | 6th | GOLD |
Winter Olympics Record
Unsurprisingly Karl has a good record at the Olympic Games. He has competed twice – in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Olympics, netting silver in the former and bronze in the latter.
He was extremely close to the Gold in Vancouver, having won the first leg of the gold medal race, but his time advantage was eaten up in the second leg handing the Gold to home country hero Jasey Jay Anderson.
Just one error right before the end cost him the gold.
| Year | Location | Parallel Slalom | Parallel GS |
| 2010 | Cypress, Canada | – | SILVER |
| 2014 | Rosa Khutor, Russia | 10th | BRONZE |
Recent & Upcoming Events
Karl recently raced in the world cup event in Montafon, Austria in the parallel slalom and came in 4th place. That was on December 18, 2014.
There is a World Cup event coming up on 9th-10th January, 2015 but the more exciting event coming up is the 2015 World Snowboard Championships. Karl has come away from each of his previous 3 championships with at least 1 Gold in his pocket.
And this time around the championships are to be held in his home country Austria. It will be interesting to see if he can add to that already impressive tally of world championship gold medals. The championships are to be held between 15th and 25th of January, 2015.
What the Future Holds?
Karl will still be only 32 at the 2018 Olympics so I’d bet on him being in the medal mix once again. Can he secure that elusive gold to complete the gold, silver, bronze set?
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