She competed in the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics. In 1948 she won the bronze medal in the slalom event as well as in the Alpine combined competition. In the downhill contest she finished 19th. Four years later she finished fourth in the 1952 Olympic downhill event. In the same year she finished 17th in the giant slalom competition and 22nd in the slalom contest.^[1]

Mahringer earned silver medals in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1950 at Aspen (slalom and downhill), and in the giant slalom she finished fourth.^[2] She was a six time Austrian Champion (downhill 1948, 1951, 1952; slalom 1951; giant slalom 1951; Alpine Combined 1951).^[2] In 1951, she was named Austrian Sports Personality of the Year.^[2]

Mahringer was born in Linz.^[1] She wed fellow skier Ernst Spiess in 1954.^[2] Together they founded the Mayrhofen Ski School. In 1955, they opened "Riki’s Skikindergarten", the world's first children's ski school.^[2] Riki and Ernst are the parents of Uli Spiess and Nicola Spiess who became Alpine ski racers like their parents.^[2]

• Nicola Spiess (daughter)
• Uli Spiess (son)

• Erika Mahringer at FIS (alpine) 
• Erika Mahringer at Olympics.com 
• Erika Mahringer at Olympedia 
• Erika Mahringer at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database