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. She was one of the first people who came in and she just blew me away, said Schmied. They also needed to take what is now an intermediate recreational ski run and transform in into the rough and tumble 1976 downhill. He could sense it himself. It was just the idea of making something about Franz Klammer., But Pochlatko also saw the challenge. The 1976 Olympic downhill was arguably the most anticipated Winter Olympic event in history a matchup with the veteran, defending gold medalist Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, and the upstart young Austrian farm boy Franz Klammer. In 1974, he took home World Championship gold in combined at St. Moritz, silver in downhill. 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. One of the most important things I got out of sport were friendships, said Klammer. I always had this feeling in the starting gate. And still, he does everything right! But the most important week in my life! I knew that Daron understood how Klammer was skiing, said Salmina. He was always going for the victory. Where to find Franz Klammer 1976 Innsbruck downhill video? He was adorable, said Witt of her time with La Bomba. Here the Austrians and Swiss pit their best. After his victories, Alberto told me hed be pleased to watch East Germanys attractive superstar Katarina Witt competing at the ice arena in Calgary. Russi vividly recalls the long wait in the finish and the momentum of the crowd that carried Franz Klammer to victory. In 1990, Klammer won a round of the prestigious European Touring Car Championship. Even though I had nothing to prove here, its a special victory after that nightmare in Japan. The Austrian was obviously relieved to have blown away the dark clouds of Sapporo that had haunted her. 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. ", 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. Others had tried to make a film about Franz Klammer for quite some time and nobody quite got it correct. An Austrian flyer with a downhill gold medal from his first Olympics at the . I was so focused, I was so concentrated, just on the run and then half-way down, I was looking at the crowd, kind of now I'd better do something to win the race. Nearly two hours later, they came back smiling. Ill call him.. 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. He won 4 more times in 1976 leading up to the Olympics. But in that year, 1975, I had won all the World Cup races. He was 21st on a day where Austria swept the first nine places behind winner Hermann Maier. So, the necessary conflict was born. And there was only one leftit was Franz Klammer. Russi continued; Franz Klammer was in the starting gate. For Eva, they went with a young actress from Vienna, Valerie Huber. Patrick Ortlieb admitted afterwards that he had a French passport lying around somewhere at home, yet he was happy to race for Austria. Rahlves wasnt even three years old when Klammer won gold. 1 mo. Every 4 years at the Winter Olympics, the premier event is the mens downhill. I went all the way up to the top. But it lacked an antagonist someone to create tension. Finally he also skied a line in the final pitch which Im sure he never recognised. Klammer dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (197578). Somehow he survived, etching his name into history with a .33-second margin over Russi. February 18 I was kicking in her belly because my mother was so excited the whole time.. A key to any film is casting. Two or three times we tried to bring a good story. NEW YORK - Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford has died. He would win 31 downhills in World Cup competition. But I felt, you know, they were really pushing me., Passing the finish tape, the time showed 1:45.73. 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. In skiing, its the Swiss Alps and the Austrian Alps that define the sport. The whole family was sitting in front of the TV. Yes. The risk was too great and the snow was wrong. Klammer said. We enjoyed watching Katarina claim her second Olympic title after a brilliant show. Sport Skiing Country Austria Born December 03, 1953 Joined academy 2000 He is considered the best-ever Downhill skier who dominated the competitions in the seventies and the eighties. So that was the important thing., They were married in 1979. At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL). The pressure on the young farm boy from Mooswald was immense. When casting ski racing doubles for Klammer, Salmina turned to his longtime friend Rahlves. 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). They also brought the 1976 downhill race course back to life, albeit with machine grooming to make it a bit more racer friendly. His rival, Russi, drew number 3 the optimum start position given weather conditions. This was the man standing between Klammer had his Gold Medal. He also remains close to Russi. But, with Eva, it was immediate. For days everyone talked about that thrilling ski 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 Klammer story, yah, it was epic, said Schmied, a Styrian-born writer and director who, like most Austrians, was on skis before he was two. Alpine Skiing. He would finish as the top downhill skier a record five times (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1983). Klammer's 1:45.73 was more than thirty-two seconds faster. Klammer came into the 1976 Olympics with three straight World Cup downhill wins and back-to-back Hahnenkamm titles. But the skating star didnt meet Alberto afterwards. 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. This article first appeared in the January/February 2014 issue of Skiing History magazine. The third racer on the course, he finished 0.33 seconds behind Franz Klammer of Austria, who started fifteenth, the last of There was a sense of calm an indicator of confidence as the 22-year-old athlete put his poles over the starting wand. After clinching her sixth crystal globe for the overall World Cup title in 1979, Annemarie was aiming for the elusive Olympic gold medal in 1980 that she had missed eight years before. This success means a lot to me after all those years, she told reporters at the post-race press conference that I was running in the modest base lodge of the resort. 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. Four years later, they met for dinner and a private ski lesson. The bad ones are almost like little Franz gets his keys and then hes a teenager. So I decided to take even more risks.. Sporting Legends. He is a member of the Skiing History magazine editorial board. The Austrian set an impressive record of 62 victories and 115 podium finishes on the World Cup tour in only 175 competitions. . Is she also French? I asked him at the 2013 World Cup season start at Soelden. Franz Klammer won only one Olympic medal, but that was the one that mattered - at Innsbruck in 1976. Klammer finished fourth overall in 1976, third in 1977, and fifth in 1978.[3]. Franz Klammer gets police protection from an enthusiastic crowd after his victory. His yellow racing suit wasnt as crisp and flashy as the other golden Austrian uniforms. It wasnt a scene of parties and fame, just a quiet ride into the sunset after the much-anticipated race. With the original incredible commentary by ABC USA broadcasters Frank Gifford and Bob Beattie. It was a brilliant lifetime story of a young boy who had stunning athletic success. This is where most biopics fail. Bernhard and I, we are really close friends and appreciate each others company. Franz KLAMMER Team Austria Alpine Skiing Olympic Medals 1 G Games Participations 2 First Olympic Games Innsbruck 1976 Year of Birth 1953 Olympic Results Biography The most sincere congratulations of all When the Olympic Games came to Innsbruck the following year, there was great pressure on Klammer as an Austrian favourite competing in Austria. Tomba and Witt competed again at Lillehammer. This one turn, in the lower part, it changed my entire life, said Klammer. I knew I will do it, he explains, I was full of confidence, I knew I can pull it off, and at any time, I learned how to win a race: concentrate, just on your race, you and the mountain and not thinking about anybody else. The feats of this exceptional downhill skier include this total domination of the 1974-1975 season, with eight victories in the nine races of the programme, a run, straddling the two following seasons, of 10 consecutive wins and another record: five small discipline crystal globes, won consecutively from 1975 to 1978, then in 1983. placing third in a race won by another experienced competitor, Jean-Luc Cretier . Thats what I liked.. He won 8 of 9 during the 1975 season and also won 19 of 23, 20 of 26 and 21 of 29 downhills. Im extremely happy. Photo caption:Hermann Maiers nickname, the Herminator, was inspired at the 1998 Games by themovie character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I hope it lasts forever., Storyline in hand, casting the right actors became the next challenge. , casting the right actors became the next challenge what is now an intermediate recreational ski run and in. Part, it changed my entire life, said Klammer the dark clouds of Sapporo that had her. 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