
Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion
alpine ski racer from
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. He dominated the
downhill event for four consecutive
World Cup seasons (
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
–
78). He was the gold medalist at the
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...
in
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
, winning the downhill at
Patscherkofel by a margin of 0.33 seconds with a time of 1:45.73. Klammer won 25 World Cup downhills, including four on the
Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm (means "comb (anatomy), comb") may refer to
*Hahnenkamm (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft), a federation of municipalities in Bavaria, Germany
*Hahnenkamm, Greenland, a mountain in the Stauning Alps, Greenland
*Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, a mountain ...
at
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...
. He also holds the record for the most victories (four) on the full course at Kitzbühel.
Background
Klammer was born into a farming family in Mooswald, community
Fresach,
Carinthia
Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
; like many alpine farm boys, he skied to school each winter day. His home village did not have any
ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a Lift ticket, paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, ...
s, so as a child he climbed up the pasture behind his house to ski downhill. 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.
He had a tough struggle to make the Austrian ski team, which traditionally was dominated by the
states
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Tyrol
Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
and
Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
. 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 spent 13 seasons on the World Cup circuit, from December
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
to March
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
.
Klammer has been married to his wife, Eva, since 1979: the couple met in 1975 when he was in
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
at a fitness camp with the Austrian ski team. They have two daughters, Sophie and Stephanie.
Career
Klammer first showed signs of promise in the second half of the
1973 World Cup season, finishing second in the
St. Anton downhill behind
Bernhard Russi of
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, the reigning
Olympic and
World Cup downhill champion. Klammer, aged 19, followed this up with a third at
St. Moritz and a third in the
giant slalom
Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G.
Giant sl ...
at
Mont Sainte-Anne (the only time he finished on the podium in a World Cup giant slalom in his career).
The following season he finished second in the downhill standings behind
Roland Collombin of Switzerland. Klammer beat Collombin and Russi at
Schladming in December 1973 under terrible conditions, but Collombin bested him at
Garmisch,
Avoriaz and
Wengen.
Klammer won every downhill in the
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
season, except
Megève
Megève (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Co ...
, where one of his skis came off. 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
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...
, which would have granted him at least a third place (15 points) for the AK-combined of slalom Chamonix / downhill Megève. In the Olympic test event at
Patscherkofel at
Innsbruck
Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...
in January 1975, Klammer had defeated
defending Olympic champion Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, the runner-up, by nearly a half-second.
Entering the
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (, ) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 (), were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from February 4 to 15, 1976. The games were awarded to Inn ...
, the 22-year-old Klammer was the favourite to take the gold medal in the
downhill at Innsbruck in his native Austria. He was the defending World Cup downhill champion and had won the three previous downhills in January at
Wengen,
Morzine and
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...
, and also the previous year's race on the same Patscherkofel course. Starting in 15th position, Klammer was the last of the top seeds and knew that Bernhard Russi had set a blistering pace to lead by over a half-second. Klammer took heavy risks on the treacherous piste, skied on the edge of disaster and won by 0.33 seconds to the delight of the
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n fans. A dozen years earlier on the same course in
1964,
Egon Zimmermann posted a 2:18.16 to win the gold medal. Klammer's 1:45.73 was more than thirty-two seconds faster.
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. The second speed event, the
super-G, was not a World Cup event until December
1982, at the twilight of Klammer's World Cup career.
At the end of the
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
season, despite having won 8 of 9 downhills, he finished third for the overall World Cup title. The final event was a parallel slalom and Klammer lost in the first round. Italy's
Gustav Thöni defeated Sweden's
Ingemar Stenmark in the finals and won his fourth overall title in five years. Klammer finished fourth overall in 1976, third in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
, and fifth in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
.
Klammer won the World Cup downhill title five times: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and
1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
– twice more than the next best downhiller. In the 1975 season he won 8 of 9 World Cup downhill races, including his first of three consecutive victories (1975–77) on the prestigious ''Streif'' on the
Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm (means "comb (anatomy), comb") may refer to
*Hahnenkamm (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft), a federation of municipalities in Bavaria, Germany
*Hahnenkamm, Greenland, a mountain in the Stauning Alps, Greenland
*Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, a mountain ...
at
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...
. He won a fourth in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, at the age of 30.
After his fourth consecutive season title in downhill in 1978, he began a prolonged slump until the end of the
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
season. 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).
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
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
Lake Placid was elected ...
in
Lake Placid. Rather than retire, he worked long and hard at a comeback. Finally in December
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
, after another ski change from
Kneissl to
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
, he won at
Val-d'Isère
Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...
. The following season he regained the World Cup Downhill title, his fifth, followed by the 1984 victory at Kitzbuehel, his fourth on the Hahnenkamm. At the
1984 Olympics in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
, (then
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
, now
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
), Klammer finished a disappointing tenth on a less-than-challenging course on
Bjelašnica
Bjelašnica ( sr-Cyrl, Бјелашница, ) is a mountain in the Dinaric Alps in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mount Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the mountain group got its name, r ...
.
At his peak (Wengen 1976 to Wengen 1977), Klammer won ten consecutive downhills, including the pressure-laden win at the 1976 Olympics. He won 8 of 9 during the 1975 season and also won 19 of 23, 20 of 26 and 21 of 29 downhills. His career total is 26 downhill wins: 25 World Cup and 1 Olympic. 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.
In an interview with
Austrian television in 2006, the 52-year-old Klammer was asked about his greatest achievement. He answered that although his gold medal at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck was generally regarded as his greatest career achievement, winning at
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...
in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
meant something very special to him, considering that he had not won there for seven years.
His final World Cup race was in March 1985 at
Aspen
Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus.
Species
These species are called aspens:
* ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'')
* ''Populus da ...
,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. He retired from international competition at the age of 31.
Klammer finished with 26 World Cup victories, 45 podiums and 87 top ten finishes (71 downhill, 5
combined, 11
giant slalom
Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G.
Giant sl ...
).
Motor racing
Immediately after his retirement from alpine competition, Klammer took up motor racing, and was soon involved in
touring car racing
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not move a ...
, driving Mercedes-Benz saloons all over Europe and racing professionally as far away as Australia. In 1990, he won a round of the prestigious
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...
.
Legacy
Klammer was a hero to Austrian ski racing fans and also to fans the world over for doing a great deal to promote the popularity of alpine ski racing. He is known as "The
Kaiser
Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...
" and also as the "Klammer Express".
In a 2015 interview with
Graham Bell for ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 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.
In an interview with
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...
that aired on
NBC on 13 February 2010, as part of their
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...
coverage,
American Olympian Bode Miller cited Klammer's style and approach to ski racing as a major source of inspiration for him.
Inspired by his younger brother Klaus, who was
paralysed from the waist down after a crash in a downhill at the age of 16,
Klammer has established the Franz Klammer Foundation, which benefits seriously injured athletes.
Franz Klammer Foundation
- - benefits seriously injured athletes - accessed 2011-01-08
World Cup results
Season titles
Season standings
Race victories
*26 wins - (25 downhill, 1 Alpine skiing combined)
World championship results
From 1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
through 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
, the Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...
were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results
^ Klammer was an alternate on the 1980 team and did not compete.
Video
*
*
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klammer, Franz
Austrian male alpine skiers
Olympic alpine skiers for Austria
Alpine skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Austria
Austrian racing drivers
1953 births
Living people
Olympic medalists in alpine skiing
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Olympic cauldron lighters
Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics
Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
Skiers from Carinthia
Australian Endurance Championship drivers
20th-century Austrian sportsmen