#Franz klammer how to#
#Franz klammer movie#
#Franz klammer tv#

Nobody went there to see if it was possible or not.

Finally he also skied a line in the final pitch which I’m sure he never recognised. I think that gave him the extra kick, there was something in the air, he could not lose that race, no way. “And I personally think there is somewhere that power from spectators they can pull him down. “Really the whole mountain was shaking when Franz came down,” he recalls. Russi was beaten by 33 hundredths of a second. Passing the finish tape, the time showed 1:45.73. But I felt, you know, they were really pushing me.” 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. “And suddenly, there were 60,000 people in the stadium and the whole mountain started to shake…,” Bernhard Russi explains.įranz Klammer recalls, “By the time I walked into the starting gate, I knew I am going to win. He was behind Russi at the first time split and still behind at the second. 15, a yellow suit, red shoes and a red helmet with a white stripe, Klammer set off to shouting from the crowd. Each competitor who followed failed to best his time, until there was only one skier left who was capable of beating him: Franz Klammer. 3, he performed pretty well and crossed the finish line with a time of 1:46.06, giving him the lead. The man to beat was the Swiss competitor Bernhard Russi, title-holder after his victory at the Sapporo Games in 1972 and who intended to retain his sceptre. For “Kaiser Franz”, this moment of triumph happened on the 3,020m of the Patscherkofel in Innsbruck on Thursday 5 February 1976.Ī huge crowd had amassed along the edge of the piste and at the finish line for the star event at the Innsbruck Games.

#Franz klammer tv#

This is all the sweeter when it is won in front of more than 60,000 focused supporters and millions of Austrians gathered in front of their TV sets across the country. With the Super-G, as a second speed race, not existing at the time, Klammer's career was only downhill (apart from a world title in the combined event in 1974), which explains why despite his overwhelming domination, the Austrian skier, born on 3 December 1953 in Mooswald (Carinthia), was never able to compete for the large general classification globe in the World Cup in an era particularly characterised by the success of the Swede Ingemar Stenmark.Ī great career only becomes exceptional with the ultimate title – an Olympic gold medal.

#Franz klammer how to#

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. “I always had this feeling in the starting gate. From his first victory in the World Cup at 19 years old, to Schladming on 22 December 1973, to his ultimate success in the discipline, his fourth triumph on the Kitzbühel Streif on 21 January 1984, Franz Klammer won 25 downhill races – a record that still stands today, and that no-one has even come close to beating to date in the men's event. “I knew what a big deal Franz is.We would be right to consider him the greatest downhill skier of all time. “I grew up with Franz Klammer – everybody in Austria did,” Schmied says, stressing Klammer’s enduring popularity in the country. When producer Jakob Pochlatko of Vienna-based Epo-Film approached Schmied with the project, the director embraced the opportunity. Other attempts had been made at telling Klammer’s story on film over the years, but none had succeeded.

#Franz klammer movie#

The movie world premieres at the Zurich Film Festival, which opens Thursday. It was that focus that ultimately convinced Klammer to give the film, “Chasing the Line,” a thumbs up. In telling the story of champion alpine ski racer Franz Klammer, one of Austria’s most revered and beloved sports heroes, director Andreas Schmied forewent the usual biopic tropes, focusing instead on a few fateful days that culminated in his victory at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck.