He was two-tenths of a second behind Russi. The game was the final tuneup for Team USA before the Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Feb. 7-19. Their story was truly one for the big screen. He would finish as the top downhill skier a record five times (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1983). [citation needed]. ago I remember being a kid seeing this live and thinking how close to death he pushed himself. I think he won for everybody, you know? We would watch a lot of film and I had to put it in my head that I had to ski out of control and make these little mistakes everywhere., Before every ski scene, as Rahlves was examining the run in his mind, the director would scream at him, Daron, no, no, no, you got to ski Klammer style, Klammer style out of control.. Thats what I liked.. Klammer, age 19, followed this up with a third at St. Moritz and a third in the giant slalom at Mont Sainte-Anne (the only time he finished on the podium in a World Cup Giant Slalom in his career). The whole family was sitting in front of the TV. Do you feel like you've ever designed a downhill course that was too dangerous? We were a team."eattie served as a commentator for ABC Sports coverage of alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics from 1976 to 1988. ski team historian Tom Kelly last . For others, like Franz Klammer, its about climbing mountains for fun and sliding back down. He became famous in 1998 after clinching two Olympic gold medalsin Super G and GSat Nagano despite a horrific crash in downhill. Thats how I won that day., Photo caption:The race course was rough and the pressure was onwhen Klammer pushed out of the starting hut in thedownhill. However, the Swiss . Chasing the Line. They shared an embrace, some laughs and watched a film that showcased the sport that formed the DNA of their lives on snow. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Austrian downhill-skiing star Franz Klammer won 25 races on the World Cup circuit. 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. This is not a good story for a film because you need the emotional roller coaster. Russi traced a new type of downhill that required great technical skills from athletes and a high level of performance from their skis. He was paired with Frank Gifford to call one of the Winter Olympics' most famous ski races for ABC - Austrian great Franz Klammer's electric downhill run to capture gold in 1976. He is considered the best-ever Downhill skier who dominated the competitions in the seventies and the eighties. Franz Klammer was Sportsman of the Year in Austria three times: 1975, 1976 and 1983.. Two years later, bothTomba and Witt competed again at Lillehammer. Here it is !! Franz Klammer, Austrian Alpine skier who specialized in the downhill event, winning 25 World Cup downhill races in his career. Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. 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. Everyone got nervous after defending Olympic champion Bernhard Russi from Switzerland set the best time after a nearly flawless run. The story of Franz Klammer is the story of ski racing in Carinthia. His five World Cup downhill titles (1975 1978, 1983) are still more than any other skier in history (no one else even has four). Old School. 2-The Thrilla In Manila- Ali V Frazier III 3. 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. A dozen years later, Fischer had a strong racing product. No. But the skating star didnt meet Alberto afterwards. I liked his way of approaching that. Klammer would go on to have an unprecedented career. Franz Klammers 1976 Olympic Downhill. 1- 1980 USA vs USSR Olympic Hockey Game. At his peak (Wengen 1976 to Wengen 1977), Klammer won ten consecutive downhills, including the pressure-laden win at the 1976 Olympics. Just past halfway he nearly went off the course, but he kept picking up speed, reaching near 80 miles per hour at the bottom of the course. 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. Right: Schwarzenegger and Maierat the FIS Alpine WorldChampionships in Schladming in February 2013. Franz Klammer - 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Run franzweberinc 113 subscribers 509K views 13 years ago The greatest downhill of ALL time! The last, 11 years later in 1984, at the age of 30, is worthy of a second movie. The third racer on the course, he finished 0.33 seconds behind Franz Klammer of Austria, who started fifteenth, the last of Alongside the ski track outside Innsbruck, 60,000 fans lined the piste. Tomba and Witt competed again at Lillehammer. The next day, Tomba finished a strong second in a slalom dominated by Norways Finn Jagge. School playgrounds were quiet and the capital of Vienna was empty. Alpine Skiing Legend Franz Klammer Relives His 1976 Olympic Run | ISOS006. He and Elisabeth dissected the story to determine how they could tell Klammers story and keep the attention of an audience 45 years after his famous ride down Patscherkofel. When I started, the course was basically ruined and I knew I had only a small chance to win, he said. Frank Gifford who passed away yesterday at the age of 84 was known most as a Hall of Fame football player and the play-by-play man on Monday Night Football. Klammer dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975-78). The Austrian had become a hero in his country after having won a dozen downhill races in previous seasons. 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. 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. 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. 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 . I knew that Franz Klammer his victory and his legend basically would be enough to sell the movie on his name and this emotional story. His final World Cup race was in March 1985 at Aspen, Colorado. It was a really fun course with all the elements of a good downhill, said Rahlves. The mind of a downhill skier - Franz Klammer. Don't forget this was 1976. Franz Klammer has a height of 6'0" (1.83 m). In bib no. They met later that year in Italy during an exhibitionand then again four years later at Les Menuires, the site of the slalom race for the 1992 Albertville Games. Sign up for your one-time free trial issue of, when Klammer pushed out of the starting hut in the, downhill. And then I completely changed the line. His formidable appearance, his determination on the slopes, and his numerous victories in the weeks prior to his trip to Japan had led reporters to use rougher nicknames, like The Beast, which Maier didnt like at all. We enjoyed watching Katarina claim her second Olympic title after a brilliant show. One of his strongest opponents was the very determined Annemarie Proell. 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. After his victories, Alberto told me hed be pleased to watch East Germanys attractive superstar Katarina Witt competing at the ice arena in Calgary. Show more Download Available now 9 minutes Last on Sat 15 Feb 2014. They will be captivated by the storyline and the tension leading up to the race. Many of the top guns failed to control their line in the tricky parts of the course. Christian Kresse, the tourism chief for the state of Carinthia, wanted to change that and to bring Klammers story to the screen a process that began nearly eight years earlier. Nearly two hours later, they came back smiling. 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. Even today, he is emotional in telling it. Unable to make the four-member Austrian downhill team for the 1980 Olympics, Klammer could not defend his Olympic title at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Some of ski racings greatest characters have attracted even more attention from the media and the crowds, thanks to nicknames invented by fans, friends or reporters. He didnt grow up in the shadow of the towering Tyrolean Alps. I went all the way up to the top. For days everyone talked about that thrilling ski run. 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. This was the man standing between Klammer had his Gold Medal. Klammer Express, his other nickname, continued to dominate his sport until 1978, then he suffered a loss of momentum which led notably to him not being selected for the very strong Austrian downhill team for the Lake Placid Games in 1980. His fans adored his down-to-earth personality and his aggressive style. Russi had won the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal in Sapporo, Japan. ^ Klammer was an alternate on the 1980 team and did not compete. When casting ski racing doubles for Klammer, Salmina turned to his longtime friend Rahlves. These achievements mark him as one of the greatest downhill racers ever: Karl Schranz achieved 20 wins over an extended career while Klammer won 19 in less than three seasons. Whether I win it or crash, there was nothing in between. Franz Klammer's Gold Medal Run - Innsbruck 1976 Dish Waterhands 111 subscribers 188K views 13 years ago This is nearly the entire Franz Klammer Gold Medal Run from the Innsbruck Winter. Didier Cuche won his fifth Hahnenkamm last January. He made his World 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. He was 84. The two became friends. The Austrian set an impressive record of 62 victories and 115 podium finishes on the World Cup tour in only 175 competitions. 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. At the end of the 1975 season, despite having won 8 of 9 downhills, he finished third for the overall World Cup title. [citation needed] He was the defending World Cup downhill champion and had won the three previous downhills in January at Wengen, Morzine and Kitzbhel, and also the previous year's race on the same Patscherkofel course. The other favorites were not as gutsy or crazy. Then came the biggest blow. Note: I don't have a model release for this subject A Silver was not an option to the Austrians, especially to lose on their home field against their most important rival. He met fans who vividly re-lived their own experiences of Feb. 5, 1976. This one turn, in the lower part, it changed my entire life, said Klammer. I couldnt believe my luck.. I was amused later to discover that I was the only skier who dared to take that line. Klammer has remained one of the sports biggest fans. He was really experienced and I learned so much from Gerald in the sense that he told me whats going on in the minds of downhill skiers and how they how they how they operate.. 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. It will premiere Oct. 26 in Villach, Austria, near Klammers childhood home of Mooswald. About that same time, Klammer had seen a film Schmied had directed about a Carinthian ice hockey player, Harrinator, that had been released that year. And it meant 100% commitment. The story of ski racing in Carinthia the story of Franz Klammer has a height of 6 & x27... Traced a new type of downhill that required great technical skills from athletes and a high of. 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