Franz Klammer

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Franz Klammer..
Alpine skier
Franz Klammer (Gala-Nacht des Sports 2009).jpg
Klammer in 2009
Disciplines Downhill, Giant Slalom,
Combined
Born 3 December 1953 (age 63)
Mooswald, Carinthia, Austria
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
World Cup debut December 1972 (age 19)
Retired March 1985 (age 31)
Olympics
Teams 2 (1976, 1984)
Medals 1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams 5 (1974 85)
includes 1976 Olympics
Medals 3 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 13 (1973 85)
Wins 26 (25 DH, 1 K)
Podiums 45 (41 DH, 1 GS, 3 K)
Overall titles 0 (3rd in 1975, 1977)
Discipline titles 5 (5 DH: 1975 78, 1983)
Medal record[hide]
Alpine skiing
Representing Austria
Olympic Games
Gold medal first place 1976 Innsbruck Downhill
World Championships
Gold medal first place 1974 St. Moritz Combined
Gold medal first place 1976 Innsbruck Downhill
Silver medal second place 1974 St. Moritz Downhill
Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from
Austria. Klammer overwhelmingly dominated the downhill event for four consecutiv
e World Cup seasons (1975-78). He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olymp
ics in Innsbruck, winning the downhill at Patscherkofel by a margin of 0.33 seco
nds with a time of 1:45.73. He won 25 World Cup downhills, including four on the
Hahnenkamm at Kitzbhel. He holds the record for the most victories (four) on the
full course at Kitzbhel.
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Career
3 Motor racing
4 Legacy
5 World Cup results
5.1 Season titles
5.2 Season standings
5.3 Race victories
6 World championship results
7 Olympic results
8 Video
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Background[edit]
Born into a farming family in Mooswald, community Fresach, Carinthia, and like m
any alpine farm boys, Klammer skied to school each winter day. His home village
did not have any ski lifts, so as a child he climbed up the pasture behind his h
ouse to ski downhill. Klammer started racing at the relatively late age of 14, c
ompeting in the winter whilst working on the family farm during the summer after
he dropped out of school.[1] He had a tough struggle to make the Austrian ski t
eam, traditionally dominated by the states of Tyrol and Salzburg. He made his Wo
rld Cup debut at the age of 19 in 1972 at the Val Gardena downhill: he finished
ninth in the training run for the race, but could only manage 32nd place on race
day due to nerves.[1] He spent 13 seasons on the World Cup circuit, from Decemb
er 1972 to March 1985.
Klammer is married to Eva since 1979: the couple met in 1975 when he was in Tuni
sia at a fitness camp with the Austrian ski team. They have two daughters, Sophi
e and Stephanie.[1]
Career[edit]
Klammer first showed signs of promise in the second half of the 1973 World Cup s
eason, finishing second in the St. Anton downhill behind Bernhard Russi of Switz
erland, the reigning Olympic and World Cup downhill champion. Klammer, age 19, f
ollowed this up with a third at St. Moritz and a third in the giant slalom at Mo
nt Sainte-Anne (the only time he finished on the podium in a World Cup GS in his
career).[1] The following season he finished second in the downhill standings b
ehind Roland Collombin of Switzerland, his nemesis that season. After beating Co
llombin and Russi at Schladming in December 1973 under terrible conditions, Coll
ombin bested him at Garmisch, Avoriaz, and Wengen. In December 1974, Collombin f
ell at Val-d'Isre, as he had the previous year. This time Collombin broke his bac
k in a training run, unfortunately ending his promising career. Klammer won that
race and every other downhill that 1975 season, except Megve, where one of his s
kis came off; without this incident, he would have won the overall World Cup tit
le 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 o
f slalom Chamonix / downhill Megve. In the Olympic test event at Patscherkofel at
Innsbruck in January 1975, Klammer had defeated defending Olympic champion Bern
hard Russi of Switzerland, the runner-up, by nearly a half-second.[2]
Entering the 1976 Winter Olympics, the 22-year-old Klammer was the favorite to t
ake the gold medal in the downhill at Innsbruck in his native Austria. He was th
e defending World Cup downhill champion, and had won the three previous downhill
s in January at Wengen, Morzine, and Kitzbhel, and also won the previous year's r
ace on the same Patscherkofel course. Starting in 15th position, Klammer was the
last of the top seeds, and knew that Russi had set a blistering pace and led by
over a half-second. Klammer took heavy risks on the treacherous piste, skied on
the edge of disaster, and won by 0.33 seconds to the delight of the Austrian fa
ns. A dozen years earlier on the same course in 1964, Egon Zimmermann posted a 2
:18.16 to win the gold medal; Klammer's 1:45.73 was more than thirty two seconds
faster.
Although he dominated the downhill event in World Cup competition, the overall t
itle remained elusive, because the technical specialists had two events in which
to earn points (slalom & giant slalom) whereas a speed specialist had only one.
The second speed event, the Super G, was not a World Cup event until December 1
982, at the twilight of Klammer's World Cup career.
At the end of the 1975 season, despite having won 8 of 9 downhills, he finished
third for the overall World Cup title. The final event was a parallel slalom and
Klammer lost in the first round. Italy's Gustav Thni defeated Sweden's Ingemar S
tenmark in the finals and won his fourth overall title in five years; Klammer fi
nished fourth overall in 1976, third in 1977, and fifth in 1978.[3]
Klammer won the World Cup downhill title five times: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, and
1983; twice more than the next best downhiller. In the 1975 season he won 8 of
9 World Cup downhill races, including his first of three consecutive victories (
1975 77) on the prestigious Streif on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbhel. He won a fourth i
n 1984, at the age of 30.
After his fourth consecutive season title in downhill in 1978, he began a prolon
ged slump until the end of the 1981 season. He may have been affected by his bro
ther's spinal cord injury in a downhill race, as well as a change of ski supplie
r (from Fischer to Kneissl). Unable to make the strong four-member Austrian down
hill team for the 1980 Olympics, Klammer could not defend his Olympic title at t
he 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Rather than retire, he worked long and h
ard at a comeback; finally in December 1981, after another ski change from Kneis
sl to Blizzard, he won at Val-d'Isre. The following season he regained the World
Cup Downhill title, his fifth, followed by the 1984 victory at Kitzbuehel, his f
ourth on the Hahnenkamm. At the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, (then Yugoslavia, now
Bosnia), Klammer finished a disappointing tenth on a less-than-challenging cour
se on Bjela nica. The race was won by the brash Bill Johnson of the U.S., an excel
lent glider who had recently won his first World Cup race on a shortened course
at Wengen. Johnson had promising training runs and publicly predicted his Olympi
c victory. Klammer had been involved in a controversy with Johnson when he descr
ibed him to a teammate as a "nasenbohrer" after he won a race earlier in the sea
son. The term is slang in some German speaking areas for a rookie but its litera
l translation is "nose picker."
At his peak (Wengen 1976 to Wengen 1977), Klammer won ten consecutive downhills,
including the spectacular, pressure-laden win at the 1976 Olympics. He won 8 of
9 during the 1975 season and also won 19 of 23, 20 of 26 and 21 of 29 downhills
. His career total is 26 downhill wins: 25 World Cup and 1 Olympic. These achiev
ements mark him as arguably the greatest downhill racer ever: Karl Schranz achie
ved 20 wins over an extended career while Klammer won 19 in less than three seas
ons.
In an interview with Austrian television in 2006, the 52-year-old Klammer was as
ked about his greatest achievement. He answered that although his gold medal at
the Olympic Games in Innsbruck was generally regarded as his greatest career ach
ievement, winning at Kitzbhel in 1984 meant something very special to him, consid
ering he hadn't won there since 1977.
His final World Cup race was in March 1985 at Aspen, Colorado; he retired from i
nternational 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).[4]
Motor racing[edit]
Immediately after his retirement from alpine competition, Klammer took up motor
racing, and was soon involved in touring car racing, driving Mercedes-Benz saloo
ns all over Europe and racing professionally as far away as Australia. In 1990 K
lammer won a round of the prestigious European Touring Car Championship.[5]
Legacy[edit]
Klammer was a hero to Austrian ski racing fans and also to fans the world over f
or doing a great deal to promote the popularity of alpine ski racing. He is know
n as "The Kaiser" and also as the "Klammer Express."
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 f
inish, 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 enga
ging in a carve.[1]
In an interview with Tom Brokaw that aired on NBC on February 13, 2010, as part
of their 2010 Winter Olympics coverage, American Olympian ski racer Bode Miller
cited Klammer's style and approach to skiing as a major source of inspiration fo
r him.
Inspired by his younger brother Klaus, who was paralysed from the waist down aft
er a crash in a downhill at the age of 16,[1] Klammer has established the Franz
Klammer Foundation, which benefits seriously injured athletes.[6]
World Cup results[edit]
Season titles[edit]
Season Discipline
1975 Downhill
1976 Downhill
1977 Downhill
1978 Downhill
1983 Downhill
Season standings[edit]
Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom Super G Downhill Combined
1973 19 8 9 not
run 4 not
awarded
1974 20 5 10 2
1975 21 3 9 1
1976 22 4 1 4
1977 23 3 1 not
awarded
1978 24 5 1
1979 25 51 19
1980 26 33 11
1981 27 40 13
1982 28 14 5
1983 29 18 not
awarded 1
1984 30 20 4
1985 31 52 16
Race victories[edit]
26 wins - (25 downhill, 1 combined)
Season Date Location Discipline
1974 22 Dec 1973 Austria Schladming, Austria Downhill
Switzerland 1974 World Championships
1975 8 Dec 1974 France Val-d'Isre, France Downhill
15 Dec 1974 Switzerland St. Moritz, Switzerland Downhill
5 Jan 1975 West Germany Garmisch, West Germany Downhill
11 Jan 1975 Switzerland Wengen, Switzerland Downhill
18 Jan 1975 Austria Kitzbhel, Austria Downhill
26 Jan 1975 Austria Innsbruck, Austria Downhill
9 Mar 1975 United States Jackson Hole, USA Downhill
21 Mar 1975 Italy Val Gardena, Italy Downhill
1976 12 Dec 1975 Italy Madonna di Campiglio, Italy Downhill
10 Jan 1976 Switzerland Wengen, Switzerland Downhill
11 Jan 1976 Combined
17 Jan 1976 France Morzine, France Downhill
25 Jan 1976 Austria Kitzbhel, Austria Downhill
Austria 1976 Winter Olympics
12 Mar 1976 United States Aspen, USA Downhill
1977 17 Dec 1976 Italy Val Gardena, Italy Downhill
18 Dec 1976 Downhill
8 Jan 1977 West Germany Garmisch, West Germany Downhill
15 Jan 1977 Austria Kitzbhel, Austria Downhill
22 Jan 1977 Switzerland Wengen, Switzerland Downhill
18 Feb 1977 Switzerland Laax, Switzerland Downhill
1978 11 Dec 1977 France Val-d'Isre, France Downhill
11 Mar 1978 Switzerland Laax, Switzerland Downhill
1982 6 Dec 1981 France Val-d'Isre, France Downhill
1983 20 Dec 1982 Italy Val Gardena, Italy Downhill
1984 21 Jan 1984 Austria Kitzbhel, Austria Downhill
World championship results[edit]
Year Age Slalom Giant
Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined
1974 20 20 10 not
run 2 1
1976 22 DNF1 1
1978 24 5
1980 26 ^
1982 28 7
1985 31 5
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships fo
r alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper rac
e" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results Olympic rings with white rims.svg[edit]
Year Age Slalom Giant
Slalom Super-G Downhill Combined
1976 22 DNF1 not
run 1 not
run
1980 26 ^
1984 30 10
^ Klammer was an alternate on the 1980 team and did not compete.
Video[edit]
Video - Olympics - 05-Feb-1976 on YouTube
Full 1976 Olympic Run on YouTube
Video - Kitzbhel - 21-Jan-1984 on YouTube
See also[edit]
Sports Illustrated - cover - 16-Feb-1976 - Franz Klammer - 1976 Winter Olympics
On Came The Heroes - by William Oscar Johnson
Sports Illustrated - 21-Feb-2003 - Franz Klammer
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
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Bell, Graham (19 October 2015). "Franz Klammer intervi
ew: 'Ski racing is my life and I wanted to do it no matter what'". telegraph.co.
uk. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
Jump up ^ FIS-ski.com - Innsbruck - 1975-01-26 - accessed 2010-03-06
Jump up ^ FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Franz Klammer - 1973-85 - a
ccessed 2010-03-06
Jump up ^ Ski-db.com - Franz Klammer - results - accessed 2010-03-06
Jump up ^ laureus.com Archived February 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ Franz Klammer Foundation - (German) - benefits seriously injured athle
tes - accessed 2011-01-08
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Franz Klammer.
Franz Klammer at the International Ski Federation
FIS-ski.com World Cup season standings Franz Klammer
Ski-db.com results Franz Klammer
"Franz Klammer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
International Who's Who Franz Klammer - accessed 2006-09-04.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Austria David Zwilling Austrian Sportsman of the year
1975 1976 Succeeded by
Austria Niki Lauda
Preceded by
Austria Armin Kogler Austrian Sportsman of the year
1983 Succeeded by
Austria Peter Seisenbacher
[show] v t e
Olympic Champions in Skiing - Men's Downhill
[show] v t e
World champions in men's downhill
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 74644833 LCCN: nr96018997 GND: 118562738
Categories: Austrian male alpine skiersOlympic alpine skiers of AustriaAlpine sk
iers at the 1976 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiers at the 1984 Winter OlympicsOlympic
gold medalists for AustriaAustrian racing drivers1953 birthsLiving peopleOlympi
c medalists in alpine skiingFIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions24 Hours of Spa dr
iversOlympic cauldron lightersMedalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics
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