The studio lights were on, the stubble hairstyle was in place: Günther Jauch, the presenter of Aktuelle Sportstudio, had made himself look extra pretty. With a blue blazer, white shirt and beige pleated trousers. Jauch took a deep breath, looked at his little cheat sheet and spoke into the camera. "The best German mountain biker is with us today. It's Regina Stiefl. A warm welcome". The audience clapped and stamped on the floor of the public broadcasting studio. Stiefl then steered her bike down the stairs through the line of guests. Her blonde mane bobbed with every step - more and more until the last landing spoilt her performance. She crashed and shot headfirst towards the camera. The best German mountain biker, two-time World Cup winner in downhill, lay on the studio floor. Regina Stiefl could do better, but her television appearance on 23 September 1994 burned itself into the minds of viewers. She brought the bike to the attention of the German public - it became the sport where you rode down the stairs and then lay down.
The Grainau native's downhill career began on skis: she ranked in the top places in the downhill until she took her first baby break. Her sporting career seemed to be over, but Stiefl made new plans and looked for challenges. In 1987, she switched from the piste to the trail. Regina Stiefl started racing cross-country. Out of nowhere, she collected victory after victory - only an inflammation of the heart muscle and a knee operation could stop her. She switched back to downhill racing - downhill mountain biking was her new passion. This decision led to a permanent duel: Regina Stiefl versus Missy Giove. In 1993 and 1995, the German won the World Cup - but she was denied a medal at the World Championships. Together with the American, the German dominated the racing action.
When Regina Stiefl looks at her outstanding results today, she has only one explanation: "The density of performance back then cannot be compared with today." It could have gone on like this. In 1996, she got a new bike from American Eagle and the environment became more professional. But success failed to materialise, the sponsor stopped paying and frustration grew. At the end of the year, the mountain biker drew a line under it. "After this messed-up season, it just wasn't fun anymore. But there was also enough time to do something completely new," says Stiefl, explaining her decision at the time. A radical makeover followed. Her hairdresser turned her blonde perm into a black-coloured short haircut. Instead of dashing around the corner in bike photos, she changed the glossy magazine: in 1998 she lolled around in Playboy. She shared the nude pages of the magazine with Ricky from Tic Tac Toe.
Germany's best female mountain biker disappeared from the bike scene as quickly as she had arrived. Her brief comeback attempt in 1998 fizzled out with second-class World Cup results. In 1999 she became Regina Stiefl in the MTB Hall of Fame recorded. Today, the 42-year-old works successfully as a stylist: "It's a great job that demands a lot of creativity from me." But Stiefl's bike career lives on on the Internet. Bids for the 5/98 issue of Playboy are flooding in on Ebay. And anyone who wants to can See Regina Stiefl fall again in the current sports studio - on YouTube. But please don't laugh.
