Suddenly there were 60,000 people in the stadium and the whole mountain began to shake.” Klammer did not have classic ski technique, he came out of the gate fearlessly, right on the edge. He was behind at the first intermediate time, he was behind at the second intermediate time. And there was only one left…it was Franz Klammer.” Russi continued “Franz Klammer was in the starting gate. We’ll let Bernhard Russi describe “I was down number three and was leading and one after another came down and I was still leading, still leading, still leading, still leading. What happened next was the creation of a legend. Switzerland and Austria have a long rivalry in the Winter Olympics. “I’ve never seen so much pressure put on one man my entire life,” opined ABC’s Bob Beattieīernhard Russi was from Switzerland. A Silver was not an option to the Austrians, especially to lose on their home field against their most important rival. This was the man standing between Klammer had his Gold Medal. He would win 31 downhills in World Cup competition. Russi had won the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal in Sapporo, Japan. The Swiss rival, Phillippe Roux stood third at 1:46:69, Italy’s Herbert Plank second at 1:46:59, and the magnificent Swiss, Bernhard Russi first at 1:46:06. When Klammer’s time at the starting gate came he knew exactly what needed to be done. “The risk was too great and the snow was wrong.” Klammer said. In the end Klammer decided to use his old skis. 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 pressure intensified again when Klammer drew the 15 th spot for his Olympic run. Two days before his big race the makers of his skis, Fischer, wanted him to use their new design. He was the overwhelming favorite for Gold with the home crowd there to watch. The pressure on the young farm boy from Mooswald was immense. Nobody had ever had a string of victories like that. He won 4 more times in 1976 leading up to the Olympics. 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.
In 19 he was the best downhill skier in the world. The Austrian nation would accept nothing short of a Gold as they hosted the World.Įnter 22-year old Franz Klammer. The downhill was to be run down the face of Patscherkofel, one of the premier downhill tracks in the world. In the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, the stakes rose. Here the Austrians and Swiss pit their best. Every 4 years at the Winter Olympics, the premier event is the men’s downhill. The two nations ski teams are two of the fiercest rivals in the sporting world. In skiing, it’s the Swiss Alps and the Austrian Alps that define the sport.
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