Franz Klammer

The Innsbruck 1976 downhill — the most watched and most celebrated single run in alpine skiing history.

Franz Klammer was born in Mooswald, Austria in 1953. His downhill run at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics — on home snow, with the nation watching, with Bernhard Russi's time on the board — is considered the most thrilling individual performance in alpine ski racing history. He skied on the edge of disaster through the entire course, nearly crashing multiple times, to beat Russi by 0.33 seconds. He won 26 World Cup downhill races. He became an Austrian national hero in the manner of only a handful of athletes in European sport history.

• Olympic Gold Downhill 1976
• World Cup Downhill 5x