![]() In the Olympic test event at Patscherkofel at Innsbruck in January 1975, Klammer had defeated defending Olympic champion Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, the runner-up, by nearly a half-second. Without this incident, he would have won the overall World Cup title in March 1975, due to a good slalom result two days earlier at Chamonix, which would have granted him at least a third place (15 points) for the AK-combined of slalom Chamonix / downhill Megève. Klammer won every downhill in the 1975 season, except Megève, where one of his skis came off. After beating Collombin and Russi at Schladming in December 1973 under terrible conditions, Collombin bested him at Garmisch, Avoriaz and Wengen. The following season he finished second in the downhill standings behind Roland Collombin of Switzerland. 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). Klammer, age 19, followed this up with a third at St. Anton downhill behind Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, the reigning Olympic and World Cup downhill champion. Klammer first showed signs of promise in the second half of the 1973 World Cup season, finishing second in the St. They have two daughters, Sophie and Stephanie. Klammer has been married to his wife, Eva, since 1979: the couple met in 1975 when he was in Tunisia at a fitness camp with the Austrian ski team. He spent 13 seasons on the World Cup circuit, from December 1972 to March 1985. 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 had a tough struggle to make the Austrian ski team, traditionally dominated by the states of Tyrol and Salzburg. 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. His home village did not have any ski lifts, so as a child he climbed up the pasture behind his house to ski downhill. He also holds the record for the most victories (four) on the full course at Kitzbühel.īorn into a farming family in Mooswald, community Fresach, Carinthia, and like many alpine farm boys, Klammer skied to school each winter day. He won 25 World Cup downhills, including four on the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel. 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. Klammer dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons ( 1975– 78). Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. ![]()
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