Innsbruck 1976 | Olympic Winter games. It was a little intimidation factor for the others. Franz Klammer In 1976, How the legendary Austrian skier won one of the most exciting Olympic downhill races of all time. Another surprise was revealed later when my father, World Cup founder Serge Lang, intrigued by Patricks last name, discovered that he was a double national: Austrian, as he was born in that country from an Austrian mother, but also French through his dad, a cook from Alsace, who had emigrated to Lech to work, raise a family and run the Montana Hotel there. A veteran journalist on the world alpine racing circuit recallsmoments of high dramaand humorfrom the Winter Games. He slid his Fischer C4s back and forth, stretching his legs. Second in the season-long battle for the downhill crystal globe in 1973, he turned up the heat in 1975 winning eight World Cup downhills and taking the season title. Four years later, they met for dinner and a private ski lesson. But in that year, 1975, I had won all the World Cup races. After his victories, Alberto told me hed be pleased to watch East Germanys attractive superstar Katarina Witt competing at the ice arena in Calgary. But the most important week in my life! So I won it.. Enter 22-year old Franz Klammer. I said to myself, Franz, now you have to do something because youre going to lose, he said. He remains the king of the downhill, the most successful skier of anyone in his discipline in the World Cup. During the evening, Witt expressed her desire to ski once with Alberto, who had just collected his third Olympic title in giant slalom at Val dIsre. He retired from international competition at age 31.Klammer finished with 26 World Cup victories, 45 podiums and 87 top ten finishes (71 downhill, 5 combined, 11 giant slalom). Russi vividly recalls the long wait in the finish and the momentum of the crowd that carried Franz Klammer to victory. Franz was getting treated like a king coming into that race, said Rahlves. He showed me plenty of tricks and we had so much fun, she told me afterwards as we sat down to enjoy hot chocolate and cakes. Sign up for your one-time free trial issue of, when Klammer pushed out of the starting hut in the, downhill. I wanted to make a film. Is she also French? I asked him at the 2013 World Cup season start at Soelden. Photo caption:Italian superstarAlberto Tomba won gold in slalom and GS at Calgary, then cheered from the side of the rink as Katarina Witt of East Germany claimed her second Olympic figure-skating title. I am not a skiing fan. Witt was exhausted but happy about her exclusive ski lesson. He was kind of a tough, tough guy.. Bernhard and I, we are really close friends and appreciate each others company. They were excited and I knew I won it. 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. 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. In fact, the course contributed to new technology in ski construction, ultimately leading to the parabolic shaped skis now used by most recreational skiers. The 1974-75 winter was practically perfect for Kaiser . Ortlieb is a well-known name in Alsace; I think I know some of his relatives, explained Lang, who was also born in Alsace in 1920. So I really wanted to give the audience a real feel for the people in the story.. [4], Immediately after his retirement from alpine competition, Klammer took up motor racing, and was soon involved in touring car racing, driving Mercedes-Benz saloons all over Europe and racing professionally as far away as Australia. His tiny village of Mooswald, north of Villach, was situated in the mountains but without a ski lift. Starting in 15th position, Klammer was the last of the top seeds and knew that Russi had set a blistering pace to lead by over a half-second. After beating Collombin and Russi at Schladming in December 1973 under terrible conditions, Collombin bested him at Garmisch, Avoriaz and Wengen. In an interview before the Games, La Bomba told the press that his dad, Franco, might buy him a Ferrari if he clinched two gold medals in Canadaa mission he accomplished by winning the slalom and the GS. Challenge in hand, Pochlatko took the film concept to director and screenwriter Andreas Schmied of Samsara Filmproduktion. 1 mo. In a quick one-camera interview I made with him later on, he added, Ill be back!, During one of our early morning production meetings at the CBS office at Hakuba, I discussed Hermanns chance to excel in the Super G with play-by-play announcer Tim Ryan. Franz legendary race was one month before I was born, he said. The story of Franz Klammer is the story of ski racing in Carinthia. A great career only becomes exceptional with the ultimate title an Olympic gold medal. Klammer's 1:45.73 was more than thirty-two seconds faster. Franz KLAMMER. Jean-Claude Killy. He was 84. Franz Klammer, a former champion alpine ski racer, has a net worth of $45 million. But they were not attractive. 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. Posted by: Dennis S Date: July 21, 2021 08:34PM Frank Gifford called the race for ABC. 1. On race day, she stayed laser-focused as she made her way down the course, despite strong gusts of wind that disturbed some of her main rivals, including Nadig. A huge crowd had amassed along the edge of the piste and at the finish line for the star event at the Innsbruck Games. While Klammer had been consistent in his success on the skis, Fischer and his team had innovated a new product. After Schranz flew back to Vienna, where he was welcomed by a huge crowd on the main square, La Proell did her best to recoup, yet could not achieve her potential on race days. Hoping for a low start number in the draw, Klammer drew 15 last in the top seed. Racing skis had changed appreciably. That December, he kicked off the 1973-74 World Championship year with the first of his 25 World Cup downhill wins claiming a victory in Schladming. Each competitor who followed failed to best his time, until there was only one skier left who was capable of beating him: Franz Klammer. 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. It was just the idea of making something about Franz Klammer., But Pochlatko also saw the challenge. Its like Hermann Maier for me his program was at such a high level and he had everything taken care of for him. At 60, Franz Klammer remains a charismatic and ruggedly dishy figure, along Liam Neeson lines. Few past stars of ski sport command attention today like Franz Klammer. 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. Didier Cuche won his fifth Hahnenkamm last January. After trailing Russi by .20 of a second at the second intermediate time he made up more than half a second on the bottom portion of the course to win in 1:45.73. Downhill courses are the monsters of alpine skiing: 9,000-foot-long beasts with steep pitches that combine to build tremendous speed. They also required more feeling from the racers, who needed to steer them continuously from the entrance to the exit of each turn. But I knew I had to risk everything. Ironically, it wasnt his first visit to the little-used speed course on Patscherkofel. All the other actors we found they were perfect, said Schmied, lighting up with excitement. Ill call him.. The first choice to play the role of Franz was Julian Waldner. It was unreal to be a part of that it was an honor, said Rahlves, who spent a week last February doing ski scenes outside Innsbruck. Chasing the Line screenplay does a masterful job in capturing the pressure he felt that week. Books with references and insights into Franz Klammer's career: "White Circus" by Ken Read/Matthew Fisher, "On the Edge" by Currie Chapman/Randy Starkman, This page was last edited on 20 October 2022, at 22:30. Eight years after Sapporo, La Proell had enjoyed a superb revenge. And it meant 100% commitment. I knew I only had a small chance to win, hetold the author. It includes the original US broadcast commentary from ABC. I really was happy of course, and relieved, that I did my greatest race, or my most important run. He is considered the best-ever Downhill skier who dominated the competitions in the seventies and the eighties. And then I completely changed the line. 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. Everyones heart was in their throats and on the edge of their seat. Thanks for bringing that memory back. As the lowest seed in 15th position, his task of bringing home . To learn more, please visit www.franzweber.com Show. Franz Klammer won only one Olympic medal, but that was the one that mattered - at Innsbruck in 1976. I had seen in training that a few skiers, including Ken Read of Canada, had tested a straighter yet very risky line there. He was a troubled youth who began competitive skiing on nearby Mount . Alongside the ski track outside Innsbruck, 60,000 fans lined the piste. I knew I only had a small chance to win, he, told the author. Newspaper. They also needed to take what is now an intermediate recreational ski run and transform in into the rough and tumble 1976 downhill. School playgrounds were quiet and the capital of Vienna was empty. Do you feel like you've ever designed a downhill course that was too dangerous? 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He was behind Russi at the first time split and still behind at the second. The screams of thousands of spectators must have been heard for miles. Photo caption:Ortlieb takes flight over the mens downhill course on his way to winning gold at Albertville. A fan of the Klagenfurt ice hockey team KAC, Klammer liked the film. Thats what I liked.. When I went out of the starting gate, I knew I was going to win that race, said Klammer. Klammer dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975-78). He would also have to live with personal challenges. When I told my mother that Im doing this film, she said all these memories came up. (Surely my fathers tape isnt the only known copy of this run in full?) To shoot the film, producers literally took over Patscherkofel, taking the revered race course back in time. Bill Johnson was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 30, 1960, and moved with his family to Boise, Idaho, when he was seven.He learned to ski at Bogus Basin in the late 1960s. At the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Russi nearly retained his Olympic title with a very fast time in the downhill at Patscherkofel, but took the silver medal. First of all, biopics fail because they are almost like passion plays. The last, 11 years later in 1984, at the age of 30, is worthy of a second movie. Thats what I liked.. And, it needed a bit of a love story. Franz Klammer is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria..who overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup sea. We were hardly breathing. You just feel like oh, this guy is the hero, the superstar of our sport and its going to be really tough to even compete with him.. Salmina was at Kitzbhel in 2003 the day Rahlves won. He also remains close to Russi. The Austrian former champion alpine ski racer dominated the event for four consecutive World Cup seasons and was gold medallist in 1976. 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. Klammer was just 19 when he burst onto the scene in 1973, skiing to three World Cup podiums. He won for the nation, for every Austrian skier. At the finish line, Franz Klammer started by looking at the huge crowd. Curling. His younger brother, Klaus, was paralyzed from the waist down due to a downhill ski accident when the boy was 16. She never came to the races. He is not only legendary as a skier, hes just a very great person.. We go for a beer and some nice talks, said Mayer. The crowd went nuts as the announcers in ABCs commentator boothFrank Gifford, Bob Beattie and their special host Jackie Stewart, the former Formula One world car-racing championtold the world the results. And what are you doing? Im studying medicine. And that was all we talked about. Klammer overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975-78). Even today, he is emotional in telling it. In the summer of 1975, in the lead-up to the Olympics, the Austrian team held a training camp in Tunisia where he coincidentally met a young girl from Vienna. She may soon compete on the World Cup tour. He watches every ski race men and women. A dozen years later, Fischer had a strong racing product. Olymipc downhill champion 1976 (Innsbruck). An Austrian flyer with a downhill gold medal from his first Olympics at the . The World Cup had only been formally established in 1967. And still, he does everything right! He would finish as the top downhill skier a record five times (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1983). At the end of the 1975 season, despite having won 8 of 9 downhills, he finished third for the overall World Cup title. Bib number 15 moved into the starting gate atop Patscherkofel, high above the Tyrolean village of Innsbruck. He is a member of the Skiing History magazine editorial board. Originals 01:56. And suddenly, there were 60,000 people in the stadium and the whole mountain started to shake, Bernhard Russi explains. Ive never seen so much pressure put on one man my entire life, opined ABCs Bob Beattie. Winner of eight of the nine downhill races on the World Cup tour in 1975, Klammer was the favourite at the 1976 Olympics but faced stiff . He nearly crashed again on one of the last jumps yet recovered to cross the finish line with the winning time, only a few tenths of a second ahead of his Swiss rival and friend. And Klammer was winning big on its C4 skis. They tried to do some kind of a glamour biopic.. Only a few months later, Franz told me how he managed to clinch that title after his fantastic run. Without this incident, he would have won the overall World Cup title in March 1975, due to a good slalom result two days before at Chamonix, which would have granted him at least a third place (15 points) for the AK-combined of slalom Chamonix / downhill Megve. The legendary skier Franz Klammer. Jan. 01, 1977 - Franz Klammer the 'winner' 5 th downhill - race of Stock Photo, Royalty Free Image: 69487594 - Alamy . Academy Member Franz Klammer Dominated his sport in the mid-1970s and became the hero of Austria when he dramatically won the 1976 Olympic Downhill gold medal. As I approached it, I made a last-second decision to go for it instead of following my usual rounder line. Way to winning gold at Albertville, 60,000 fans lined the piste for a low start number the. 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