The mind of a downhill skier - Franz Klammer Innsbruck 1976 | Olympic Winter games. Nov 4, 2009 #2 Warp Daddy Active member Joined Jan 12, 2006 Klammer overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975-78). Klammer won every downhill in the 1975 season, except Megve, where one of his skis came off. And, it needed a bit of a love story. And I personally think there is somewhere that power from spectators they can pull him down. Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. The modern-day vintage-looking C4s took a little adjustment time. Once more, it was Draggan, working then for CBS, who set up the encounter in a nice restaurant in the French resort. I also told Ryan about that funny nickname and Maiers comment. Klammer would go on to have an unprecedented career. But the skating star didnt meet Alberto afterwards. His greatest moment is certainly still his Olympic win in Innsbruck; however, his entire career remains a great source of inspiration for all the speed skiers that have followed. My father had one of the very first VCR recorders, a clunky JVC in 1976 and captured this direct from the broadcast to a Scotch 3M VHS tape. Kids act as sportscasters while watching Franz Klammer's performance at the Olympic Winter Games Insbruck 1976. . 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. 2 Years of Sipping Sports A Sip of Sports. 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. 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. Alpine Skiing. I really was happy of course, and relieved, that I did my greatest race, or my most important run. And Klammer was winning big on its C4 skis. The project really came to us with a big burden, said Schmied, echoing Pochlatkos concerns. 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. Its about skiing to school each day, always enjoying that feeling of sliding on snow. To shoot the film, producers literally took over Patscherkofel, taking the revered race course back in time. So they took a chance, thinking what if we did a full-length feature film and just focused on one race? We pitched Franz on the idea, said Schmied. [citation needed], Inspired by his younger brother Klaus, who was paralysed from the waist down after a crash in a downhill at the age of 16,[1] Klammer has established the Franz Klammer Foundation, which benefits seriously injured athletes.[6]. But the most important week in my life! During the call, he also invited Maier to visit him next spring in Los Angeles. Your email address will not be published. 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. 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. He is not only legendary as a skier, hes just a very great person.. Enter 22-year old Franz Klammer. Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. So I decided to take even more risks.. Right: Schwarzenegger and Maierat the FIS Alpine WorldChampionships in Schladming in February 2013. I couldnt stop thinking about it. 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. One of the most exciting sports events I have ever witnessed was Franz Klammers 1976 Winter Olympic run for the gold in the downhill. Just the idea of making a film about Franz Klammer is not very easy from a filmmakers perspective, he said. I really admired him his style, his way of skiing, Klammer said about Miller. Franz Klammer can be considered the greatest downhill skier of all time having won 25 downhill races, a record that still stands today in the men's race. I thought, thats a fun thing just to make a film with one week from my life, he said. 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. I always thought, I will never be able to find a woman who Im going to love, said Klammer, pausing to collect his thoughts. 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. 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? Patrick Ortlieb admitted afterwards that he had a French passport lying around somewhere at home, yet he was happy to race for Austria. 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. And he took a three-win streak, including his second straight Hahnenkamm win, into the Olympics. Few past stars of ski sport command attention today like Franz Klammer. Many of the top guns failed to control their line in the tricky parts of the course. This article first appeared in the January/February 2014 issue of Skiing History magazine. Franz Klammer, Austrian Alpine skier who specialized in the downhill event, winning 25 World Cup downhill races in his career. Franz Klammer is an Austrian former Alpine ski racer known for dominating the Downhill skiing discipline. While Klammers Olympic spot was fixed, his teammates were battling for start rights in training. Hes loved by everybody and he had an amazing career. The young Austrian Franz Klammer is considered undoubtedly the favourite for the 1976 Olympic downhill race in Innsbruck. Russi was beaten by 33 hundredths of a second. Although he dominated the downhill event in World Cup competition, the overall title remained elusive, because the technical specialists had two events in which to earn points (slalom and giant slalom), whereas a speed specialist had only one. Photo caption:Hermann Maiers nickname, the Herminator, was inspired at the 1998 Games by themovie character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He would be the last of the real contenders to go off, an advantage in that he would know what time was needed, but a disadvantage because of the damage done to the course by the first 14 skiers. The media were omnipresent. Franz Klammer (right) with Bernhard Russi after the men's downhill in 1976. An evolution from wooden skis to fiberglas and metal had swept through the sport. His fans adored his down-to-earth personality and his aggressive style. They have two daughters, Sophie and Stephanie.[1]. He won the gold medal in the downhill event at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. I asked my father and he said \"i have it somewhere on one of my old VHS tapes im sure of it\" and we did a long extensive search and found it! At the intermediate time, he was behind Russi. Interestingly, none of the well-known technicians on the tour, like multiple overall World Cup champion Marc Girardelli or local favorite Franck Piccard, the 1988 Super G Olympic champion, clocked the fastest downhill time on race day. I knew I only had a small chance to win, hetold the author. 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. Posted by: Dennis S Date: July 21, 2021 08:34PM Frank Gifford called the race for ABC. There is Schladming in Austria, where crowds of 30,000 or more stand along its wild drop-off schuss to the finish. [citation needed] He is known as "The Kaiser" and also as the "Klammer Express. Every 4 years at the Winter Olympics, the premier event is the mens downhill. 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. 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. I knew I only had a small chance to win, he, told the author. Associated Press Russi calls the race, which was featured in the recently released film "Chasing the Line,". He is considered the best-ever Downhill skier who dominated the competitions in the seventies and the eighties. And the Olympics were returning to the Alps after a sojourn to Sapporo in 1972. Their story was truly one for the big screen. If anybody could do it, its for sure Hermann, I explained with great optimism. I think he is skiing right now at Sun Valley and I know his ski instructor. And it meant 100% commitment. 3, he performed pretty well and crossed the finish line with a time of 1:46.06, giving him the lead. Rahlves used his own Atomic boots, touched up with paint to create an authentic 1976 look. Chasing the Line, it would have been easy to simply pull archival footage to build a documentary story. [] 3. The screams of thousands of spectators must have been heard for miles. Others had tried to make a film about Franz Klammer for quite some time and nobody quite got it correct. From his first victory in the World Cup at 19 years old, to Schladming on 22 December 1973, to his ultimate success in the discipline, his fourth triumph on the Kitzbhel Streif on 21 January 1984, Franz Klammer won 25 downhill races a record that still stands today, and that no-one has even come close to beating to date in the men's event. Hoping for a low start number in the draw, Klammer drew 15 last in the top seed. The Austrian former champion alpine ski racer dominated the event for four consecutive World Cup seasons and was gold medallist in 1976. He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, winning the downhill at Patscherkofel by a . He won 4 more times in 1976 leading up to the Olympics. The final event was a parallel slalom and Klammer lost in the first round. The other favorites were not as gutsy or crazy. While much can be said about fame, few superstar ski racers started their careers just to seek glory. She was one of the first people who came in and she just blew me away, said Schmied. Its very special that Franz grew up in Carinthia, just 10 minutes from my house., Every year, Mayer joins legions of followers to the local Tour de Franz cycling event. And then I completely changed the line. Posted by: DeusxMac Date: July 21, 2021 08:38PM Franz Klammer, a former champion alpine ski racer, has a net worth of $45 million. Above: Maier on the GS course in Nagano. 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. Two-time world champion and former alpine ski racer who dominated the four consecutive seasons of the World Cup in the downhill event, Standing aloof as the extraordinary defining rider in an alpine ski Franz Klammer protrudes among those alpine ski heroes. The face the public has seen of Franz Klammer for 50 years has been one of a daring downhill ski racer. Mayer, a Hahnenkamm champion who won Olympic downhill gold at Rosa Khutor in 2014 and doubled up with super-G gold at PyeongChang, grew up literally on the other side of the mountain from Klammers home. He was able to hold his line on a difficult course, while established speed specialists struggled. In the 1975 season he won 8 of 9 World Cup downhill races, including his first of three consecutive victories (197577) on the prestigious Streif on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbhel. I liked his way of approaching that. No. That honor went to a little-known Austrian from Lech, Patrick Ortlieb, who had never won a major event. I made a huge jump and thought I would crash, yet I managed to survive and land on my skis. The story of a day like no other We would be right to consider him the greatest downhill skier of all time. He could sense it himself. He was able to hold his line on a difficult course, while established speed specialists struggled. To fully understand Annemaries crowning achievement, its important to look back at the 1972 Olympics at Sapporo, Japan. ! Andreas and Elisabeth Schied found both. It was always a big goal for me to be like Franz Klammer. He would win 26 World Cup Downhills between 1973 and 1984. . This is all the sweeter when it is won in front of more than 60,000 focused supporters and millions of Austrians gathered in front of their TV sets across the country. And that was the main obstacle to tackle before developing a script.. He is out, he cant make it shouted triple Olympic champion Toni Sailer, alpine director of the Austrian team, after seeing Franz fly high into the air off the Ochsenschlag jump in the upper part of the run. And so this was, for me, the spark that lit the project. Thats a fun story. So he reached out to fellow Austrian filmmaker Gerald Salmina, producer of the 2014 film Streif: One Hell of a Ride, to manage second unit shooting at Patscherkofel last February. Twice he took the concept to filmmakers and twice it went nowhere. At the last Olympics in Nagano, after a five-day delay, Trinkl was the only Austrian to win a medal in the downhill. And she says, well, what are you doing? I said, well, Im skiing. Are you winning something? she says. The 51 minute-documentary Klammer gegen Russi - Das Rennen ihres Lebens from film director Michael Bhler will be available on Play Suisse from 4 February and broadcasted tonight on SRF 1 at 20:05. Everyones heart was in their throats and on the edge of their seat. So his knowledge bank on Klammer comes from the legend and from the longstanding friendship hes had with him. Like Muhammad Ali for boxing, Wayne Gretzky for ice hockey or Tiger Woods for golf. 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. Even today, he is emotional in telling it. Four years later, they met for dinner and a private ski lesson. Their excitement is palpable. The antagonist role was cast with Fischer Skis owner Josef Pepi Fischer, the second-generation owner of the famed Austrian ski company. He would retire in 1984 as Austrias Greatest Athlete. Four Hahnenkamm downhill titles (only Didier Cuche has more, with five). Note: I don't have a model release for this subject 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. 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 . 15, a yellow suit, red shoes and a red helmet with a white stripe, Klammer set off to shouting from the crowd. 1- 1980 USA vs USSR Olympic Hockey Game. The game was the final tuneup for Team USA before the Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Feb. 7-19. It was a crazed run to Olympic glory, up on one ski then the other, crossing back and forth through the pine boughs, sliding perilously close to the fence. Then came the biggest blow. Klammer felt he had to win the Olympic downhill for the honor of his ski-crazy country and the estimated 60,000 spectators who gathered along the race course to watch the competition. 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