I had to ski out of control and make these little mistakes everywhere. He had a few interesting moments, skis up against the old picket fence, but never any really close calls. Schmied, now a principal in Samsara Filmproduction, had previously produced five feature films in Austria. Salmina brought in his friend and Hahnankemm race chief Alex Naglich to create the racing environment for the film. Austrian great Franz Klammer says the winner of the men's downhill in . Game 6 of the 1975 World Series Reds v. Red Sox 4. He had super experience in filmmaking. Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. I am not a skiing fan. Ironically, it wasnt his first visit to the little-used speed course on Patscherkofel. In 1974, he took home World Championship gold in combined at St. Moritz, silver in downhill. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to get the news and post directly to your e-mail. Two years later, bothTomba and Witt competed again at Lillehammer. The whole family was sitting in front of the TV. Is she also French? I asked him at the 2013 World Cup season start at Soelden. But it was also complex. The story of a day like no other We would be right to consider him the greatest downhill skier of all time. She was one of the first people who came in and she just blew me away, said Schmied. The love story proved to be a real one, focusing on the role of Klammers now wife of 42 years, Eva. A Silver was not an option to the Austrians, especially to lose on their home field against their most important rival. He was from Carinthia, the right age, almost the right build, he won a couple of ski races when he was a boy. He suffered disappointment at the Sarajevo Games in 1984 with 10th place, and competed for the last time in March 1985 at Aspen with a World Cup record of 26 wins, 45 podiums and 87 top 10 places. Four Hahnenkamm downhill titles (only Didier Cuche has more, with five). One of his strongest opponents was the very determined Annemarie Proell. He was a very legendary skier, said Mayer, the son of Helmut Mayer, the 1988 Olympic super-G silver medalist in Nakiska. Franz Klammer is one of the all-time legendsof skiing. He retired from international 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). Im fully ready for Lake Placid; I have enough confidence for the big day, she told me in January after her win at Pfronten in western Bavaria. I was fourteen and was at a friends house. The blow-by-blow delivered over the PA system didnt help their nervesKlammer was behind the leaders at the intermediate times. Today, more than 45 years later, its legend still lives on, an enduring story of what many consider to be the greatest ski race of all time. Thats a fun story. Bernhard and I, we are really close friends and appreciate each others company. Every 4 years at the Winter Olympics, the premier event is the mens downhill. Well 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. We enjoyed watching Katarina claim her second Olympic title after a brilliant show. In fact, the course contributed to new technology in ski construction, ultimately leading to the parabolic shaped skis now used by most recreational skiers. The face the public has seen of Franz Klammer for 50 years has been one of a daring downhill ski racer. The two became friends. Chasing the Line presented new challenges he hadnt faced in producing Streif, which took viewers inside the minds of downhillers who threw themselves fearlessly into the Mausefalle. But in that year, 1975, I had won all the World Cup races. Chasing the Line, it would have been easy to simply pull archival footage to build a documentary story. We had briefly seen Witt during our walk under the crowded stands, as she was exercising with her trainer, Jutta Mueller. "The most important victory for a downhiller is Kitzbuhel because in my opinion it's the most complete race," Austrian legend Franz Klammer, the 1976 Olympic downhill champion, told CNN Sport. It will premiere Oct. 26 in Villach, Austria, near Klammers childhood home of Mooswald. We had really long talks about how the movie should be filmed. As a consolation prize, Proell won the FIS gold medal for her success in the three-event combined, yet she apparently threw the medal away after receiving it. Kids act as sportscasters while watching Franz Klammer's performance at the Olympic Winter Games Insbruck 1976. . Every set of Austrian eyes were tuned in to ORF across the far corners of the land. 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. More Memorable Moments. Your email address will not be published. It was a huge achievement, as there was so much pressure on him prior to that Olympic race. Franz Klammer was Sportsman of the Year in Austria three times: 1975, 1976 and 1983.. Schmied literally grew up with the Klammer legend. Gifford hosted "Wide World of Sports," covered several Olympics -- his call of Franz Klammer's gold-medal run in 1976 is considered a broadcasting masterpiece -- and announced a record 411 Monday . Second in the season-long battle for the downhill crystal globe in 1973, he turned up the heat in 1975 winning eight World Cup downhills and taking the season title. His tiny village of Mooswald, north of Villach, was situated in the mountains but without a ski lift. As we approached her, Mueller, who recognized Tomba and might have read about his wish to meet her protg, pushed Katarina into another room, so she wouldnt be distracted by the handsome Italian playboy. Franz Klammer's downhill exploits from Insbruck 1976 Restless Volleyball men's Final Yugoslavia vs Russia at Sydney 2000 Should aliens compete at the Olympic Games Our kids casters pick their preferred team to participate at Olympic Games Kids Call Franz Klammer's downhill exploits from Insbruck 1976 Old School. As expected, Russi put down a solid run to take the lead. To film with authenticity, producers had new equipment manufactured to make it look old. Newspaper. We said that the best film, as far as our research goes, is simply behind the scenes at the Olympics.. Yet this time, she was the hunter: Nadig had dominated the previous downhill races, winning six out of seven, as well as a giant slalom. I knew I only had a small chance to win, he, told the author. 3, he performed pretty well and crossed the finish line with a time of 1:46.06, giving him the lead. Kids watch Olympic curling for the first time Kids Call. Eight years after Sapporo, La Proell had enjoyed a superb revenge. Alpine Skiing Legend Franz Klammer Relives His 1976 Olympic Run | ISOS006 In Search of Speed 8.67K subscribers Subscribe 822 Share 182K views 8 years ago For your throwback Thursday enjoyment. At his peak (Wengen 1976 to Wengen 1977), Klammer won ten consecutive downhills, including the pressure-laden win at the 1976 Olympics. Enter 22-year old Franz Klammer. I think that was one of my strengths just to improvise.. So I changed the line completely. 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. The older generation of established alpine speed specialists from that timeled by Swiss racers Daniel Mahrer, William Besse and 1991 downhill FIS world champion Franz Heinzerhad great difficulties in negotiating La Face with their traditional style, which was to enter the turns at full speed and throw the skis sideways to change direction. This was the man standing between Klammer had his Gold Medal. This is not a good story for a film because you need the emotional roller coaster. [4], Immediately after his retirement from alpine competition, Klammer took up motor racing, and was soon involved in touring car racing, driving Mercedes-Benz saloons all over Europe and racing professionally as far away as Australia. Alberto Tomba won gold in slalom and GS at Calgary, then cheered from the side of the rink as Katarina Witt of East Germany claimed her second Olympic figure-skating title. 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. Here it is !! Plus historical audio featuring ABC sportscaster Frank Gifford on the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics and the gold medal Franz Klammer downhill run that inspired this trip. 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. 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. In skiing, its the Swiss Alps and the Austrian Alps that define the sport. Sport Skiing Country Austria Born December 03, 1953 Joined academy 2000 I hope it lasts forever., Storyline in hand, casting the right actors became the next challenge. ago I remember being a kid seeing this live and thinking how close to death he pushed himself. Where to find Franz Klammer 1976 Innsbruck downhill video? The game was the final tuneup for Team USA before the Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, Feb. 7-19. The Italian skier, closely followed by a crew from a U.S. network, was proudly wearing his two Olympic gold medals around his neck. When I told my mother that Im doing this film, she said all these memories came up. Thats what I liked.. We were lucky to get him here.. It was a really fun course with all the elements of a good downhill, said Rahlves. All Rights Reserved. Franz Klammer 1976 Innsbruck - The Greatest Downhill Run of All Time - FULL UNEDITED!! But they were not attractive. Rahlves wasnt even three years old when Klammer won gold. So I really wanted to give the audience a real feel for the people in the story.. Their finish line embrace at Patscherkofel in 1976 was heartfelt and forged a bond between the two rivals each Olympic downhill champions. At the end of the race he was going so fast that you could see a difference from the previous skiers. I couldnt stop thinking about it. 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. I remember watching that gold medal run. 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. movie character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He won the famous (and notorious) Hahnenkamm downhill four times. The streets across the nation were empty and factory workers received a special break, so they could watch the event on TV with millions of their compatriots. 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. 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. Her last victoryin the Olympic downhill at Lake Placid in 1980was particularly emotional and a great story, too. While Klammer had been consistent in his success on the skis, Fischer and his team had innovated a new product. That honor went to a little-known Austrian from Lech, Patrick Ortlieb, who had never won a major event. ^ Klammer was an alternate on the 1980 team and did not compete. 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