Toni Sailer
![]() Sailer in 1956 | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Kitzbühel,Tyrol,Austria | 17 November 1935
Died | 24 August 2009 Innsbruck,Tyrol, Austria | (aged 73)
Occupation | Alpine skier |
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] |
Skiing career | |
Disciplines | Downhill,giant slalom, slalom,combined |
Club | KitzbühelSki Club[1] |
Retired | 1959 (age 23) |
Olympics | |
Teams | 1 – (1956) |
Medals | 3 (3 gold) |
World Championships | |
Teams | 3 – (1954,1956,1958) |
Medals | 8 (7 gold) |
Medal record |
Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer(17 November 1935 – 24 August 2009) was an Austrianalpine ski racer,considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals inalpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics.[2][3]He nearly duplicated the feat at the1958 World Championshipswith two golds and a silver.[4]He also won world titles both years in thecombined,then a "paper" race, but awarded with medals by theInternational Ski Federation(FIS).
Career
[edit]Born and raised inKitzbühelinTyrol,Sailer was nicknamed "Blitz from Kitz" (Blitz =Germanword for "bolt oflightning"or" flash ").[3]A phenomenon as a teenager, he won the downhill and combined at the Grand Prix atMegèvein 1952 at age 16. A broken leg caused him to miss the 1953 season and kept him from performing well at the World Championships in1954.[5]He returned to championship form in 1955 at age 19 and the following year became the first to win all three alpine skiing events at the Olympics, taking gold in the downhill, slalom, and giant slalom by 3.5, 4.2 and 6.2 seconds, respectively.[1][6]He was the fifth athlete to win three gold medals in the same Olympic games, and became the most successful athlete at the 1956 Winter Olympics. TheSuper-Gevent did not exist until the 1980s. It was added to the Olympics in 1988. Through2014,Sailer remains the youngest male gold medalist in Olympic alpine skiing.
From1948through1980,Olympic alpine ski events doubled as theFISWorld Championships,therefore the Olympic champion in any event was also the world champion. Thecombinedevent was dropped after 1948 to make way for thegiant slalomin1950.No Olympic medals were awarded for the combined event from1952through1984,but it was an FIS world championship from1954through 1980. During this era, it was conducted as a "paper" race, using the results of the three events. A stand-alone combined event returned to the world championships in1982and to the Olympics in1988,with one run of downhill and two runs of slalom.
Two years after the 1956 Olympics, Sailer won three gold medals and one silver at the1958 World ChampionshipsinBad Gastein,Austria.He won five of six possible Olympic/World Championship races, missing a perfect record with a silver in the Bad Gasteinslalom,seven-tenths of a second back. Sailer also repeated as champion in the combined for a seventh world title in two years. Due to controversy over his amateur status after receiving compensation for acting (and skiing) in movies, he retired from ski racing competition in 1959.[7][8]
After racing
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Toni_Sailer.jpg/220px-Toni_Sailer.jpg)
Sailer's business interests included ski clothing and equipment, including the first successfulfiberglassskis, made inMontreal, Quebec,Canada.[8][9]In 1957–71, he appeared in a handful of movies, most of them shallow comedies at least partly set in alpine regions, with Sailer showing off his talent. In 1972–76, he was chief trainer and technical director of the Austrian Skiing Association (ÖSV).[1]During the 1960s and 1970s, he ran a summer ski camp atWhistlerin western Canada.[10]Occasionally, as late as 2003 he was noted for appearing in a number of TV episodes or made for TV movies.[11]He also sang professionally for a time, making 18 record albums.[12]
Sailer, although not associated with any political party, announced in January 2004 that he would run for Mayor of Kitzbühel. A few weeks later he withdrew his candidature, saying he had only now realized that being mayor was a full-time job. In 2006 he announced his retirement aschief of raceof theHahnenkammRace, a position which he had occupied for 20 years.[13]
Honors
[edit]Sailer was namedAustrian Sportspersonality of the yearin 1956, 1957, and 1958,[14]and "Austrian Sportspersonality of the Century" in 1999. On 16 September 1958, he was featured on the cover ofBravo magazine.[15][16]
For his contribution to the Olympic Movement, theInternational Olympic Committeeawarded him theOlympic Orderin 1985.
Personal life
[edit]Sailer married Gaby Rummeny in 1976 in Vancouver; she died of cancer in 2000. His second marriage, to Hedwig Fischer, lasted from 2006 until his death.[3][17]His son Florian (by Rummeny) also survives him.[18]
Death
[edit]It was announced in January 2008 that Sailer hadlaryngeal cancer,for which he had been undergoing chemotherapy in the preceding months.[19]He died of cancer inInnsbruck,aged 73, in 2009, and was buried in Kitzbühel. His funeral ceremonies took place near theHahnenkammfinish line.[20]
Selected filmography
[edit]- A Piece of Heaven(1957)
- A Thousand Stars Aglitter(1959)
- Twelve Girls and One Man(1959)
- Kauf dir einen bunten Luftballon(1961)
- Sein bester Freund(1962)
- Sansone e il tesoro degli Incas(1964)
- Das Blaue vom Himmel(1964, TV film)
- Ski Fever (1966)
- Aunt Trude from Buxtehude(1971)
- Holidays in Tyrol(1971)
- Wenn das die Nachbarn wüßten(1991)
- Almenrausch und Pulverschnee(1993, TV series)
References
[edit]- ^abcEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;Mallon, Bill;et al."Toni Sailer".Olympics at Sports-Reference.Sports Reference LLC.Archived fromthe originalon 17 April 2020.
- ^abRospigliosi, William (13 February 1956)."Beau of Cortina".Sports Illustrated.p. 20.
- ^abcLitsky, Frank (26 August 2009)."Toni Sailer, record-setting gold medal skier, dies at 73".New York Times.p. A21.
- ^Wernick, Robert (17 February 1958)."Bad day at Bad Gastein".Sports Illustrated.p. 40.
- ^Williams, Eric (15 September 2009)."The end of an era, Toni Sailer dead at 73".Ski Racing.Retrieved28 February2014.
- ^"Toni Sailer dies at 73; Austrian skier won all 3 Alpine golds at '56 Olympics".Los Angeles Times.staff and wire reports. 26 August 2009.Retrieved28 February2014.
- ^"Toni Sailer ranked No. 1 in skiing".Pittsburgh Press.UPI. 4 January 1959. p. 2, section 4.
- ^abBall, Robert (21 November 1960)."Racing toward riches".Sports Illustrated.p. 50.
- ^Morrill, Greg (13 February 2011)."Sailer Skis".RetroSki.Retrieved28 February2014.
- ^Verschoth, Anita (1 June 1981)."Olympic hero Toni Sailer teaches ski racing atop a canadian glacier".Sports Illustrated.p. 6.
- ^Toni Sailer.IMDb
- ^Toni Sailer: Olympic skiing champion of grace and power who went on to a career in films and pop musicThe Independent,Retrieved 20 April 2010
- ^Carlson, Michael (31 August 2009)."Toni Sailer: Olympic skiing champion of grace and power who went on to a career in films and pop music".The Independent.Retrieved28 February2014.
- ^Sportswoman/man of the yearinAustria-Forum(in German)(at AEIOU)
- ^"BRAVO 38/58, 16.09.1958".Bravo.Archived fromthe originalon 20 July 2012.Retrieved26 January2009.
- ^Williams, Richard (31 August 2009)."Obituary: Toni Sailer".The Guardian.Retrieved28 February2014.
- ^Skilegende Toni Sailer ist tot.Tirol.orf.at (25 August 2009). Retrieved on 2015-06-02.
- ^Toni Sailer: "Wenn der Tod kommt, dann kommt er".abendzeitung.de. 25 August 2009
- ^Toni Sailer hat Kehlkopfkrebs.Oe24.at (12 January 2015). Retrieved on 2015-06-02.
- ^Rugh, Pete (27 August 2009)."Sailer funeral set at Hahnenkamm finish".Ski Racing.Retrieved28 February2014.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Toni Sailerat theInternational Ski and Snowboard Federation
- Toni Sailerat Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Toni SaileratOlympics
- Toni Sailerat Olympic.org (archived)
- Toni SaileratOlympedia
- Toni Sailer (1935–2009) – AustrianInformation.org
- Toni Sailer, skier, actor and singer (with images) – NevaSport
- Toni SaileratIMDb
- Toni Sailer – Kitzbühel legends – Hahnenkamm
- Toni Sailer clothing
- Toni SailerinAustria-Forum(in German)(at AEIOU)
- Toni SaileratFind a Grave
- 1935 births
- 2009 deaths
- Austrian male alpine skiers
- Olympic alpine skiers for Austria
- Olympic gold medalists for Austria
- Olympic medalists in alpine skiing
- Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics
- Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics
- Austrian male film actors
- Austrian male television actors
- 20th-century Austrian male actors
- People from Kitzbühel
- Skiers from Tyrol (federal state)
- Recipients of the Olympic Order
- Deaths from cancer in Austria
- Deaths from laryngeal cancer
- Male actors from Tyrol (federal state)