They also had a great time in California, so it was no surprise when Arnold came the following year to Beaver Creek to encourage his friend, who clinched two more gold medals at the 1999 Ski World Championships. He may have been affected by his brother's spinal cord injury in a downhill race, as well as a change of ski supplier (from Fischer to Kneissl). In 1984, Klammer won the downhill at Kitzbhel (Hahnenkammrennen) a record fourth time, after three consecutive wins 1975-1977. One of the most exciting sports events I have ever witnessed was Franz Klammer's 1976 Winter Olympic run for the gold in the downhill. Franz Klammer gets police protection from an enthusiastic crowd after his victory. It wasnt a scene of parties and fame, just a quiet ride into the sunset after the much-anticipated race. Since the previous season the charismatic newcomer has won virtually every race.The pressure from the media and the public and the hopes of an entire nation are off the scales. I had to ski out of control and make these little mistakes everywhere. He had a few interesting moments, skis up against the old picket fence, but never any really close calls. Possibly yes, he answered with a grin. At 1.35 is when he takes a line that no other skier dared to on the day and that is to cut harder left, slingshotting him forward faster. At the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, (then Yugoslavia, now Bosnia), Klammer finished a disappointing tenth on a less-than-challenging course on Bjelanica. So that was the important thing., They were married in 1979. NEW YORK - Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford has died. I couldnt stop thinking about it. I mean, I had to come off some of the rollers, the knolls, on the tails, flying up in the air, arms out you know, just out of control, going through the pine boughs, cutting back straight to a gate, towards a fence and then redirect that. Instead, it focuses on the microcosm of his relationship with Eva as they are spirited away from the finish in an ambulance before she drives him from Tyrol back to Carinthia the next day. As I approached it, I made a last-second decision to go for it instead of following my usual rounder line. He was on the edge the entire trip down the hill, several times he looked like he was out of control and going to wreck. Is she also French? I asked him at the 2013 World Cup season start at Soelden. Klammer won the World Cup downhill title five times: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1983 twice more than the next best downhiller. It was a little intimidation factor for the others. Klammer started racing at the relatively late age of 14, competing in the winter whilst working on the family farm during the summer after he dropped out of school. Innsbruck 1976 | Olympic Winter games. But he was inspired, going on to win Olympic downhill gold on the gnarly Grizzly Run at Snowbasin in 2002 and became a rare double Hahnenkamm sieger. This time, Alberto could not attend her performance, but Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was sitting next to me. Andreas dug into the story with his wife Elisabeth, a former journalist who is now a screenwriter and novelist. He answered that although his gold medal at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck was generally regarded as his greatest career achievement, winning at Kitzbhel in 1984 meant something very special to him, considering he hadn't won there in seven years. Legend has it that at the top just before Franz left the starting gate he asked the timing official What do I need to do to win? and the guy responded Kill Yourself. The World Cup had only been formally established in 1967. To shoot the film, producers literally took over Patscherkofel, taking the revered race course back in time. I cant believe it, he has been amazing! Stewart said. [citation needed]. The legendary skier Franz Klammer. Most of this was not known in 1976, when Franz Klammer had the weight of a nation on his shoulder as he embarked on his unforgettable journey down the slopes of Patscherkofel. Tim also talked directly to Arnie, who asked him for Maiers phone number. Patrick Ortliebs win was the first surprise of the mens Olympics events at Val dIsre, yet he confirmed his success in the following seasons with significant triumphs on the World Cup tour, including winning the legendary Hahnenkamm race at Kitzbhel. But it was also complex. An all-too-fitting mantra for the ski racing pioneer who helped launch the World Cup circuit more than 50 years ago and was part of the commentary crew that called one of the most thrilling. Pepi Fischer was omnipresent, pushing hard to force Klammer to use his new ski. There was a sense of calm an indicator of confidence as the 22-year-old athlete put his poles over the starting wand. Franz Klammer. Every 4 years at the Winter Olympics, the premier event is the mens downhill. The two nations ski teams are two of the fiercest rivals in the sporting world. The opportunity for Andreas Schmied, along with his wife Elisabeth, to write the screenplay for the Klammer story was both good fortune and a big challenge. So she really had no clue who I was.. But young Franz loved the snow, skiing to school in the winter and climbing up hills on his own to come racing back down. The FULL unedited original legendary run of Franz Klammer at the 1976 Innsbruck Olymps! After his victories, Alberto told me hed be pleased to watch East Germanys attractive superstar Katarina Witt competing at the ice arena in Calgary. This was the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck - the men's downhill, the blue riband event - and the yellow flash was Franz Klammer, Austrian national hero and pre-race favourite. Austrian great Franz Klammer says the winner of the men's downhill in . Salmina was at Kitzbhel in 2003 the day Rahlves won. And she says, well, what are you doing? I said, well, Im skiing. Are you winning something? she says. Chasing the Line presented new challenges he hadnt faced in producing Streif, which took viewers inside the minds of downhillers who threw themselves fearlessly into the Mausefalle. In the end Klammer decided to use his old skis. She was one of the first people who came in and she just blew me away, said Schmied. At the end of the race he was going so fast that you could see a difference from the previous skiers. Three years ago, Kresse tried one more time. As expected, Russi put down a solid run to take the lead. There were some hot meetings within the Austrian squad, but the other racers didnt want to miss their chance for an Olympic medal just a few hours before the start of the show. Im extremely happy. The antagonist role was cast with Fischer Skis owner Josef Pepi Fischer, the second-generation owner of the famed Austrian ski company. At 60, Franz Klammer remains a charismatic and ruggedly dishy figure, along Liam Neeson lines. You grow up with it., The most important week in my life! It was an interesting way to showcase his biggest victory. So his knowledge bank on Klammer comes from the legend and from the longstanding friendship hes had with him. Sunday, February 26 2023 Breaking News. The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary were particularly intense, with ten alpine competitions held over two weeks. It was a really fun course with all the elements of a good downhill, said Rahlves. He could really win in this kind of Klammer style. I remember watching that gold medal run. Rahlves got his own revenge, of sorts, just two months later when he opened the World Championships in St. Anton with a super-G victory ahead of Austrias Stephan Eberharter and Maier a day that stopped the world in the hearts of Austrian ski racing fans. Hes quick to talk about stars of the sport like Alberto Tomba, Hermann Maier and Bode Miller. This one was different. Become a member and join a community of people who care about skiing! He was able to hold his line on a difficult course, while established speed specialists struggled. Franz Klammer produced one of the most thrilling moments in alpine racing history with his reckless gold-medal run on the treacherous Patscherkofel downhill course at Innsbruck, Austria in February 1976. And still, he does everything right! Klammer seemed doomed. Franz Klammer won only one Olympic medal, but that was the one that mattered - at Innsbruck in 1976. We were hardly breathing. And then I knew immediately that ski racing would be my life.. Franz Klammer - 1976 Olympic Downhill Gold Medal performance Rambo Nov 4, 2009 1 2 Next Nov 4, 2009 #1 Rambo Member Joined Sep 8, 2008 Messages 890 Points 16 Location Binghamton, NY Anybody remember this? I had to look into it is there even a movie there? he said. Nobody was doing anything. He was always going for the victory. Franz is a testimonial for skiing, said Kresse. I always had this feeling in the starting gate. Newspaper. He was two-tenths of a second behind Russi. ago I remember being a kid seeing this live and thinking how close to death he pushed himself. He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, winning the downhill at Patscherkofel by a margin of 0.33 seconds with a time of 1:45.73. So, the necessary conflict was born. For Eva, they went with a young actress from Vienna, Valerie Huber. His final World Cup race was in March 1985 at Aspen, Colorado. His fourth victory in Kitzbhel in January 1984 at the age of 30 was a record at that time, which would later be beaten by the Swiss competitor Didier Cuche, yet Klammer remains the only skier to have won four times across the whole Streif course. Showings in the United States and Canada are pending. The best example is Austrias Hermann Maier, one of the greatest personalities in alpine ski racing. No lift, no nothing. They were at my grandparents (house) and they watched the race with the neighbors. That honor went to a little-known Austrian from Lech, Patrick Ortlieb, who had never won a major event. ", In a 2015 interview with Graham Bell for the Daily Telegraph, Klammer attributed his success to being the first downhiller to carve a whole turn from start to finish, contrasting his style with skiers of the previous generation such as Karl Schranz and Jean-Claude Killy who would skid at the start of a turn before engaging in a carve. Witt was exhausted but happy about her exclusive ski lesson. Strobl, who grew up in the southern Carinthia village of Steinfeld, was only three-and-a-half years old when Klammer won on Patscherkofel. I think it put him at a higher level, too, with his own confidence. Seen here at Inghams 'Discovery Day' celebrating their 75th Anniversary at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon. In 1975 he had dominated the event in a fashion never seen before by winning 8 out of the nine downhill races of the season. Franzs wife said, no, sorry, that is not a story.. Plus historical audio featuring ABC sportscaster Frank Gifford on the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics and the gold medal Franz Klammer downhill run that inspired this trip. Thats what I liked.. Whether I win it or crash, there was nothing in between. I've won so many things, without the Olympic title it would have been a good career, but not a great career. The Olympic Games plus the FIS World Championships, Franz Klammer was also crowned World Champion on that day. Russi traced a new type of downhill that required great technical skills from athletes and a high level of performance from their skis. Patrick Lang, the son of World Cup founder Serge Lang, has covered 11 Winter Olympics since 1972 and has written about ski racing for dozens of media outlets. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 01:59. I remember the race we were in the living room watching on TV in black and white, said Salmina, who was 11 at the time. But Franz Klammer's career took an exceptional turn when he won in front of a huge crowd during the Innsbruck Games on 5 February 1976. In a statement released by NBC News on Sunday, his family said Gifford died suddenly at his Connecticut home of. Theres a lot of character to it where it meanders down the mountain into turns and and really cool knolls and bumps to catch some air.. Hermann Maiers nickname, the Herminator, was inspired at the 1998 Games by the. No. Having followed her career since her first victory in 1970, it was electrifying to hug her after the press conferencea record-setting athlete who had become a good friend. For some, that means weekends with the family driving to a ski resort. Franz Klammer's downhill exploits from Insbruck 1976 Restless Volleyball men's Final Yugoslavia vs Russia at Sydney 2000 Should aliens compete at the Olympic Games Our kids casters pick their preferred team to participate at Olympic Games Kids Call Franz Klammer's downhill exploits from Insbruck 1976 Klammer first showed signs of promise in the second half of the 1973 World Cup season, finishing second in the St. Anton downhill behind Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, the reigning Olympic and World Cup downhill champion. 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franz klammer 1976 olympic downhill frank gifford