He was a top athlete and a junkie at the same time: Benedikt Mayr, Germany’s best freeskier, about broken bones, excesses and drug addiction – and his late rescue in a rehab clinic.
Benedikt Mayr, 34, is still Germany’s most successful extreme skier. He started in the slopestyle discipline, where athletes cross an obstacle course and show tricks on jumps, railings and half pipes. Mayr’s international career began in 2009. He took part in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, rode the Freeride World Tour for several years and appeared in front of the camera as a ski model in numerous advertising shoots. In 2019, he stopped professional skiing due to serious injuries and a cocaine addiction that almost cost him his life.