 Toni Sailer – 1935-2009
Last week Austria said goodbye to one of its most charismatic and successful ski racers of all time. Toni Sailer (rhymes with miler) died at the age of 73 and was buried in his home town of Kitzbuehel. At the 1956 Cortina Olympics, Sailer became the first alpine skier to win gold in all three events; Downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom. It is made all the more impressive by the fact that his winning margin in the GS (6.2 seconds) has never been equaled. Because he often wore black he was sometimes called the Black Blitz from Kitz. Although he retired from racing at the age of 23, Sailer was an icon in the world of skiing for decades. He also had a special relationship with Canada as the leader of the Toni Sailer ski camps at Whistler, BC. He was married in Vancouver BC and later produced Toni Sailer skis in Montreal, Quebec. But his international impact on skiing included directorship of the Austrian ski federation, coaching the Austrian ski team, receiving the Olympic Order and in 1999 being celebrated as Austria’s Sportsman of the Century. |
