 Schranz atKitzbühel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1938-11-18)18 November 1938 (age 87) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill,giant slalom,slalom,combined | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | January1967 (age 28)inaugural season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | February1972 (age 33) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | karlschranz.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 –(1960,1964,1968) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 6 – (1960–70) includes three Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 6 (3 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 6 – (1967–1972) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 12 – (8DH, 4GS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 23 – (12 DH, 9 GS, 2 SL) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 2 – (1969,1970) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 3 – (2DH, 1GS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Karl Schranz (born 18 November 1938) is a former championalpine ski racer fromAustria, one of the best of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Born and raised inSt. Anton,Tyrol, Schranz had a lengthy ski racing career, from 1957 to 1972. He won twenty majordownhills, many majorgiant slalom races and several majorslaloms. Late in his career he was the successor toJean-Claude Killy as theWorld Cup overall champion; Schranz won the title at age 30 in the third World Cup season of1969, and repeated in1970. He was also the downhill champion for those two seasons and was the giant slalom season champion in 1969. Schranz won both the "classic downhills" four times each: theHahnenkamm atKitzbühel,Austria (1966, 1969, 1972, 1972), and theLauberhorn atWengen,Switzerland (1959, 1963, 1966, 1969). He also excelled at the legendaryArlberg-Kandahar events, winning nine times, from 1957 (Chamonix) to 1970 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen).
Schranz' father was a tunnel worker in St. Anton, which led to an early death fromtuberculosis; his widow was left to raise five children. In addition to the hardship, their hut burned down. At age 12, Schranz became an apprentice ski maker, then worked in a sawmill, and later became a ski tester. Schranz began skiing before age five on salvaged broken skis, left by tourists and reworked by his father.[1]
At age 18, he won the first of three consecutiveArlberg-Kandahar downhill and combined titles atChamonix in March 1957.[2] Schranz won again the following year, rotated back to his hometown at St. Anton,[3] and also in 1959 atGarmisch,West Germany.[4] He missed the1958 World Championships inBad Gastein due to illness.[3]
TheOlympics were unfortunately Schranz's nemesis. His disqualification from his fourth Olympics in1972 for acknowledging that he, like all other top racers, was not a pureamateur caused a furor and subsequent reform of theIOC. In his first Olympics in 1960, at age 21, Schranz was injured but started anyway and finished seventh in both the downhill and giant slalom. He won a silver medal ingiant slalom in1964 atInnsbruck, despite being ill with theflu.
In1968 atGrenoble,France, Schranz competed in all three alpine events, held atChamrousse. He finished fifth in thedownhill and sixth in thegiant slalom, both won by rivalJean-Claude Killy of the host country. In his first run in theslalom, Schranz's time was only 0.32 behind. His second run was run in a very dense fog, which hampered his visibility, and Schranz claimed he was impeded by a race official which affected his race. He was given another chance to run the second run and took the lead, but was later informed that his first attempt at run two should have been counted as he missed a gate before encountering the race official, and Schranz was disqualified. A jury upheld the decision and Killy was declared the winner for a third Olympic gold medal in the same games. There was a great deal of controversy over the suspicion that partisan French officials were attempting unfairly to prevent Schranz from winning so that Killy would sweep all three races, duplicatingToni Sailer's1956 sweep.[citation needed]
Schranz had better success at theworld championships of non-Olympic years: gold in the downhill and combined in1962 and gold in the giant slalom in1970.[5] (From1948 through1980, theWinter Olympics were also the world championships for alpine skiing.)
Classified as a professional by theInternational Olympic Committee,[1][6] Schranz was banned from the1972 Winter Olympics and retired from the World Cup circuit in mid-February at age 33.[7] In July 1973, he joined the pro ski racing circuit.[8][9]
Schranz later became ahotel owner in his hometown of St. Anton and played a key role in organizing the2001 World Championships.[10]
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Overall |
| Downhill | |
| Giant slalom | |
| 1970 | Overall |
| Downhill |
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 8 | not run | 13 | not awarded |
| 1968 | 29 | 8 | 20 | 11 | 3 | ||
| 1969 | 30 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1970 | 31 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 1971 | 32 | 11 | — | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1972 | 33 | 8 | — | — | 2 |
Results from the1968 Winter Olympics and1970 World Championships were included the World Cup standings.
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 12 December 1968 |  Val-d'Isère,France | Giant slalom |
| 11 January 1969 |  Wengen,Switzerland | Downhill | |
| 18 January 1969 |  Kitzbühel,Austria | Downhill | |
| 1 February 1969 | St. Anton, Austria | Downhill | |
| 15 March 1969 |  Mont St. Anne,Canada | Giant slalom | |
| 1970 | 5 January 1970 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom |
| 23 January 1970 | Megève, France | Downhill | |
| 1 February 1970 |  Garmisch,West Germany | Downhill | |
| 10 February 1970 |  Val Gardena,Italy | Giant slalom | |
| 1972 | 12 December 1971 | Val-d'Isère, France | Downhill |
| 14 January 1972 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | |
| 15 January 1972 | Downhill |
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 19 | — | — | not run | — | — |
| 1960 | 21 | — | 7 | 7 | — | |
| 1962 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1964 | 25 | 24 | 2 | 11 | 6 | |
| 1966 | 27 | DNF1 | 3 | 9 | — | |
| 1968 | 29 | DSQ2 | 6 | 5 | — | |
| 1970 | 31 | DNF2 | 1 | 4 | — | |
| 1972 | 33 | — | — | — | — |
From1948 through1980, theWinter Olympics were also theWorld Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
1958: illness
1972: banned by IOC
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 21 | — | 7 | not run | 7 | not run |
| 1964 | 25 | 24 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 1968 | 29 | DSQ2 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 1972 | 33 | — | — | — |
| |
Men's World Champions:Downhill • Super-G • Giant Slalom • Slalom • Combined • Parallel Giant Slalom • Mixed Team |
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Men's World Champions:Downhill • Super-G • Giant Slalom • Slalom • Combined • Parallel Giant Slalom • Mixed Team |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
