Franz Klammer's Downhill Gambit for Austria - The Greatest 2 Minutes in Sports History
Austria hosted the 1976 Winter Olympics, and the entire nation was depending on Franz Klammer in the marquee event - downhill skiing
INTRODUCTION From The Sports Time Traveler
50 years ago, long before the advent of social media, the internet, and even cable TV, there was remarkably little that could compete for your attention after dinner. At 12 years old, once I had finished my homework, the only thing left to do was watch television or read.
On the night of February 5, 1976, most of America was focused on the Winter Olympics in the Austrian Alps. The Opening Ceremonies had taken place the day before, and on the first day of competition was the marquee event of the skiing program - the men’s downhill.
In those ancient times, in 1976, there were few choices on TV. I lived in the New York area, where we had an incredible 7 channels! That was more than any other metro area in America. But there were no other programs that could have possibly drawn me away from the Olympics. Take a look at the television lineup when the Olympics came on the air (on tape delay) at 8:30pm on February 5, 1976:
WCBS channel 2 - The Waltons (I was not a John Boy fan)
WNBC channel 4 - Dark Victory (the description in the New York Times indicated this was a remake of a 1939 movie about a dying woman)
WNEW channel 5 - The Merv Griffin Show (Merv’s guests were Raymond Burr, James Coco and Grace Lee)
WABC channel 7 - XII Winter Olympics
WOR channel 9 - ABA basketball - New York Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs (okay, this would have been a good option for me if not for the Olympics)
WPIX channel 11 - The FBI
Public TV channel 13 - The Way it Was
I was laser-focused on the Winter Olympics that night. There were no distractions, no notifications on my phone, no text messages, no Facebook feed.
It was a simpler and less stressful time.
You could really immerse yourself in watching the Olympics. And on that night, I was glued to the television, for the drama of the men’s downhill at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games was perhaps higher than for any other sporting event I’d ever seen.
The ABC announcers did an incredible job building up the importance of the event, and its outcome, especially for the countries whose skiers were in contention to win.
The USA did not have anyone who was expected to medal.
The favorites were:
Herbert Plank, Italy - He had come in 2nd place in the Downhill World Cup in 1975
Bernhard Russi, Switzerland - The 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist
Franz Klammer, Austria - Downhill World Cup Champion in 1975
And now I take you back to men’s downhill at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games.
INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA - February 6, 1976
I’m here in 1976 on a virtual trip, back in time, where yesterday I experienced the Olympic men’s downhill.
Racing on the same course from the 1964 Winter Olympics, which also took place here in Innsbruck, Austria, the skiers were covering the course about half a minute faster than their predecessors did just 12 years ago.
The climax of the event came when there was one skier left to go among the top seeds. Switzerland’s Bernhard Russi was in the lead, having traversed down the 3 kilometer course in 1:46.06. That was over half a second faster than any other prior skier.
But, there was one skier left - Austria’s Franz Klammer. Racing for the host nation, in this, the most glamorous event of the entire Winter Olympics, Klammer was under the most intense pressure imaginable. Skiing is of utmost importance in this alpine nation. Indeed, the Alps encompass nearly two-thirds of the entire country.
ABC’s broadcasters built up the significance of the next 2 minutes as though Austria’s national existence was dependent on the outcome. Klammer faced a must-win situation. For a 22-year-old who burst onto the scene as a world champion and national hero just one year ago, this was quite a bit to have on his skis as he held his poles in the starting chute.
Now let’s watch Franz Klammer’s downhill run:
WARNING: If you have any heart ailments, do not watch this video.
Here’s my commentary with timestamps from the video:
0:18 - Just as ABC’s Bob Beattie says, “all the pressure is riding on his shoulders,” Klammer, takes a turn too wide, his left ski comes high off the snow, and he just narrowly escapes wiping out before somehow regaining his balance.
0:25 - Just seconds later, Bob Beattie says, “Trouble by Klammer right on the top, trouble again, he’s right on the edge!” It’s literally just seconds into the race, Klammer is on the edge, and I’m on the edge of my seat watching.
0:30 - There are no on-screen timers, but ABC’s Frank Gifford tells us that Klammer is 2 hundredths of a second behind Russi.
0:44 - Klammer comes off an uphill turn, and as he soars in the air, his left ski is perilously higher than the right, and he looks like he could wipe out. But again, he miraculously manages to land straight and continue. Beattie screams, “Klammer almost went down Frank!” Frank Gifford responds, “Believe me, he is on the edge of disaster.”
1:06 - Gifford says, “The Austrian fans at the bottom of the hill are going crazy.” Beattie says, “And Franz Klammer certainly can not be accused of doing anything but attacking.” Just as Beattie finishes that statement, Klammer comes flying through the air, with one ski higher than the other. He is just barely maintaining control.
1:15 - ABC puts the times on the screen, and Klammer is still 2 tenths of a second behind Russi. Gifford says, “He has got to let it go,” as if Klammer hadn’t already been skiing all out.
1:20 - Beattie says, “Franz Klammer’s going to really have to move if he’s going to catch Russi,” As soon as those words come out of Beattie’s mouth, he has to scream, “He’s almost out on the hay bails!” Klammer narrowly escaped disaster as he cut a turn excruciatingly close to the side of the course.
1:30 - Beattie’s voice is rising, “He’s going to have to do it right down here.” And at this moment, Klammer is airborne again with both skis at different heights, seemingly off kilter, and yet again he pulls it together.
1:34 - The end of the run is near. Klammer goes into a tuck to generate speed. Gifford builds the excitement to a crescendo with these spine-tingling words:
“This is it. This is for the gold medal.”
1:43 - Klammer comes across the line and the times for Russi and Klammer appear on the left and right on the screen. Gifford yells, “Franz Klammer has done it! This crowd has gone crazy. Franz Klammer has overtaken Bernhard Russi. An incredibe race! Ohhh!” Frank Gifford lets out a sigh as if he can finally draw a breath. Beattie chimes in, “Without a doubt, I’ll tell you Frank, I have never seen so much pressure on one man in my entire life.”
Franz Klammer won the gold medal in one of the most amazing, dramatic performances imaginable. His time of 1:45.73 was 10 seconds faster than the course record he had set last year.
Here were the final results:
1:45.73 GOLD Franz Klammer, Austria
1:46.06 SILVER Berhnard Russi, Switzerland
1:46.59 BRONZE Herbert, Italy
Today, newspapers around the globe celebrated the awe-inspiring gold medal run by Franz Klammer.
Ernie Roberts, writing in the Boston Globe, described the weight that was on Franz Klammer’s shoulders to win for the host nation, Austria:
The London Evening Standard’s description of the race included these passages:
John Samuel in the London Guardian wrote this:
So stirring was Klammer’s downhill victory that even in the heart of Texas, where skiing does not make the list of the 20 most popular sports, Dave Campbell, sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald was inspired to write the paragraphs below.
My favorite parts of Campbell’s piece were these lines:
“There was so much electricity in the air you could almost feel it in Waco.”
“Klammer came blitzing down the mountain like there was no tomorrow.”
“I still don’t understand how he failed to fall at least a dozen times.”
POSTSCRIPT
In Jim Spence’s book, “The Inside Story of Network Television Sports,” Spence quotes Andy Sidaris, who was ABC’s director for the men’s downhill at the 1976 Winter Olympics, “No question about it, that for me was the single most exciting event in the history of sports television. It was just absolutely breathtaking. Chuck Howard was producing and I was directing, and when Klammer got ready to start his run, I said to the guys in the truck, ‘ Now, you assholes, you better pay attention, because this could be the goddamnedest thing you’ll ever see in your whole life. This guy is either gonna get the gold or he’s gonna kill himself.”
FINAL NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler
Franz Klammer’s spellbinding, breathtaking, go-for-broke, win-or-die downhill run at the 1976 Winter Olympics, is easily the most dramatic 2 minutes of sports I have ever witnessed.
I was 11 years old in 1976 and I can still hear today the boys in my school saying Franz Klammer this, Franz Klammer that after he took the gold. Every time we’d go sledding that winter and someone managed some speed he was hailed as a Franz Klammer. A few years later when afterschool trips to the local (small) ski hills became a thing for us, it was still a thing…if you were fast, you were Franz Klammer.
And to think he and the others raced without benefit of the big blue lines they use today!
I watched the coverage of Klammer’s run as a kid. Imagine what it felt like when I covered the Albertville Olympics decades later and found myself sitting next to Franz watching a replay of the downhill as he explained each turn and nuance of the race. Thankfully one of the crew members turned the camera on us and I have a piece of video that I will always treasure!