However, a series of injuries sent his career into a nosedive. Although he competed at the 1992 Winter Games, he missed the 1994 Games in Lillehammer and did not enter a World Cup race for two years.
Stephan successfully regained his form and earned a silver medal in the giant slalom at the Olympic Games in Nagano. Although he skied well over the next three seasons, Eberharter saved his best for 2002, when, at the age of 32, he won a complete set of medals at the Salt Lake City Games. He began with a third place finish in the downhill and then earned a silver in the super-G, trailing Kjetil André Aamodt by only one tenth of a second. Finally, Eberharter score a decisive victory in the giant slalom, defeating Bode Miller by 88 hundredths of a second.