Alpine World Ski Championships 1978

25th Alpine World Ski Championships 1978
Place:	Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany
Start:	January 29, 1978
The End:	5th February 1978
winner
	Men's	Ladies
Departure	Josef Walcher	Annemarie Moser-Pröll
Giant slalom	Ingemar Stenmark	Maria Epple
slalom	Ingemar Stenmark	Lea Sölkner
combination	Andreas Wenzel	Annemarie Moser-Pröll
← Innsbruck 1976 Lake Placid 1980 →

The 25th Alpine World Ski Championships took place from January 29 to February 5, 1978 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen , Germany .

Choice of venue

The nomination was made at the 30th FIS Congress at the end of May 1975 in San Francisco .
Thus, for the first time ever, an Alpine World Ski Championships were held in Germany; only the ski competitions at the 1936 Winter Olympics , which were also held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, were a comparable major event. Although Germany (also with Garmisch-Partenkirchen) applied for the 1958 World Championships, it withdrew its application when it became known that the World Championships would be held separately for Alpine and Nordic competitions.
It took another 33 years before (in the same place) in 2011 Alpine World Championships took place on German soil.

Starters

While all defending champions from 1976 (the alpine ski races of the Olympic Games in Innsbruck at the time were also world championships) competed for the men, the three-time winner Rosi Mittermaier , who had resigned, was missing from the women . Elena Matous , who started for Iran, was not allowed to compete in the World Championships because - in contrast to the usual World Cup races - she would have had to provide proof of her citizenship. There were also requests to start from three runners coming from the ÖSV : Karin Schneeweiss, who named for Belgium, Marc Girardelli - and Hansi Hinterseer , who had decided on Morocco, which was doomed to failure as this North African country was not a country Was a FIS member. FIS General Secretary Gian Franco Kasper commented that there was a need to be suspicious of such changes of nation, as it was questionable whether the runners would soon get the citizenship they applied for.

program

For the first time, the women's giant slalom was held in two rounds at the World Championships.

opening

The opening took place on January 28th from 3 p.m. in the ski stadium by FIS President Marc Hodler in the presence of the German Federal President Walter Scheel and the Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria Alfons Goppel . The celebration ran in a mixture between Bavarian folklore and sporty flair with a show designed by Willy Bogner (performances by Toni Sailer , Karl Schranz and Jean-Claude Killy , who demonstrated the ski style of their time).

Sporting events

Starting position

Only four starters were allowed for each discipline. As in almost all world championships or Olympic ski races, this led to discussions and cases of hardship in the associations of the larger ski nations when selecting these quartets. In addition, there was also consideration for the combination opportunities.

• Since the men already had their first race on January 29th, their training began on January 26th.
• Danièle Debernard , two-time Olympic and three-time World Championship medalist, fell during downhill training for the World Championships on January 27 and broke her fibula.
• With the Austrian team, Klaus Eberhard was briefly in discussion due to the best training times to field him as the fourth driver instead of Peter Wirnsberger , but it was already determined when the decision on the team line-up in Kitzbühel was not to shake anything. This was also accepted after the actual result, which was disappointing for Wirnsberger. The Lower Austrian was only used as a forerunner.
• The German team feared that Christian Neureuther would not be able to participate in the slalom because of an inner ligament injury on his right leg during gymnastics training.

Previews in the newspapers

The Süddeutsche Zeitung published on 28/29. January 1978 two articles: On the men's downhill run, Michael Gernandt, member of the editorial team, highlighted Bernhard Russi's prospects under the title “I have nothing to defend here” , who at almost 30 years of age was the oldest world-class downhill runner . His season so far had not been ideal: Although he finished second in the third downhill of the season in Cortina d'Ampezzo , he had missed the first two due to injuries, the fourth in Wengen had to be canceled - and both downhill runs in Kitzbühel he wasn't there because of the flu. He saw his advantage in the fact that because of all these events he had no pressure for the world championship downhill.

In the overall preview with the headline “The wild hunt for Franz Klammer”, Wolfgang Weingärtner noted that 35 associations have sent their athletes to Werdenfelser Land . With reference to the successes of the season that “rarely has a German team had such a good dress rehearsal”, great expectations were aroused. He saw the gold contenders for the men's downhill run like a roulette: there would be no top favorites, it could be Steve Podborski as well as Werner Grissmann , along with names like Sepp Ferstl , Michael Veith , Franz Klammer and Bernhard Russi . In the technical disciplines Ingemar Stenmark is no longer considered unbeatable after his defeats. Here, too, there are many dangerous opponents: in the slalom it is Klaus Heidegger , Piero Gros and Petar Popangelow , in the giant slalom Andreas Wenzel , Phil Mahre and Heini Hemmi , who should particularly like the flat passages in the lower part of the route, are the big opponents. You always come back to Christian Neureuther, who had a remarkable start to the season.

In the women's area, at least in the descent, the crowd for a top spot is not that big. Annemarie Moser-Pröll, with 27 downhill victories in the World Cup so far, is number one. Marie-Theres Nadig is questionable because she dislocated her shoulder in the first training session. Evi Mittermaier , Bernadette Zurbriggen and Irene Epple are also close to the favorites. The technical competitions could be shaped by Hanni Wenzel and Lise-Marie Morerod ; Perrine Pelen should be mentioned in the slalom and her compatriot Fabienne Serrat in both disciplines, Maria Epple is one of the medal contenders. The cost of the world championships was put at 18 million D-Marks (7 million for the organization, 11 for the investments). The industry had spent millions on this, the DSV had the preparation cost 1.5 million, including a psychological supervisor. The association would reward World Cup gold for men with 18,000 DM, more modest is 14,500 DM for women.

Happenings

• Danièle Debernard , two-time Olympic and three-time World Championship medalist, fell during downhill training on January 27 and broke her fibula, which contributed to the end of her career

The races in retrospective

• If you wanted to use the medals achieved as a comparison, then (apart from the aforementioned) men were Piero Gros on 5 and Paul Frommelt on 7 in the slalom, Willi Frommelt as eighth in the giant and Werner Grissmann on 8 and Michael Veith on 15 in the Departure apparent. The women's table saw Monika Kaserer on 6, Lea Sölkner on 8 and Pamela Behr on 9 (slalom), Annemarie Moser-Pröll on 4 and Maria Epple on 10 (giant slalom) as well as Doris De Agostini on 6 and Irene Epple on 8 (downhill) .
• Franz Klammer stated that if he had won the title he would have switched to the professionals, but now he wants to "continue for two years".
• Willi Frommelt managed to win medals in every discipline within three major events - the Liechtenstein men's team achieved an excellent medal balance (which also somewhat compensated for the lack of the hoped-for medals for Hanni Wenzel, who at least remained a combination of silver).
• Lea Sölkner in slalom and Maria Epple in giant slalom celebrated their first ever victories at the world championships. Epple had a second place in Val-d'Isère , a third and fourth place in Les Mosses and a further fourth in Madonna di Campiglio . Sölkner was only once on the podium this season (3rd place in Maribor ); her best result came from the giant slalom in Courmayeur on December 11, 1976, where she had finished second.
• Athletes who had skied on skis from Austrian companies won a total of 6 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Men

Departure

space	country	athlete	time
1	AUT	Josef Walcher	2: 04.12 min
2	FRG	Michael Veith	2: 04.19 min
3	AUT	Werner Grissmann	2: 04.46 min
4th	FRG	Sepp Ferstl	2: 04.49 min
5	SUI	Peter Müller	2: 04.77 min
	AUT	Franz Klammer	2: 04.77 min
7th	CAN	Steve Podborski	2: 04.98 min
8th	SUI	Walter Vesti	2: 06.13 min
-	-	-	-
13	LIE	Andreas Wenzel	2: 06.67 min
14th	SUI	Bernhard Russi	2: 06.71 min
15th	FRG	Peter Fischer	2: 06.99 min
16	SUI	Philippe Roux	2: 07.37 min
19th	AUT	Peter Wirnsberger	2: 07.68 min
29	FRG	Peter Stehle	2: 10.19 min

Defending champion from 1976: Franz Klammer
Date: January 29th, 12:00 noon
Slope: " Kandahar "
Length: 3320 m, difference in altitude: 920 m
Goals: 32

There were 70 runners at the start, 67 of them reached the finish.

Giant slalom

space	country	athlete	time
1	SWE	Ingemar Stenmark	3: 02.52 min
2	LIE	Andreas Wenzel	3: 04.56 min
3	LIE	Willi Frommelt	3: 04.75 min
4th	SUI	Heini Hemmi	3: 04.87 min
5	United States	Phil Mahre	3: 04.94 min
6th	AUT	Hans Enn	3: 05.27 min
7th	SUI	Peter Lüscher	3: 06.13 min
8th	United States	Pete Patterson	3: 06.82 min
-	-	-	-
14th	AUT	Anton Steiner	3: 07.85 min
18th	AUT	Klaus Heidegger	3: 08.70 min
19th	FRG	Albert Burger	3: 08.76 min
20th	FRG	Edi Reichart	3: 08.79 min
27	AUT	Leonhard Stock	3: 06.90 min
28	FRG	Frank Wörndl	3: 09.64 min
31	FRG	Sepp Ferstl	3: 09.77 min
32	SUI	Christian Hemmi	3: 10.35 min

Defending champion from 1976: Heini Hemmi
Date: February 2nd, 10:00 am (1st run), 1:00 pm (2nd run) Slope: "Horn"
Length: 1355 m, difference in altitude: 400 m
Gates: 63 (1st run) . Run), 61 (2nd run)

There were 104 runners at the start, 85 of them reached the finish.

Retired u. a .: Jean-Luc Fournier (SUI), Paul Frommelt (LIE), Erik Håker (NOR), Bojan Križaj (YUG), Ken Read (CAN), Michel Vion (FRA)

slalom

space	country	athlete	time
1	SWE	Ingemar Stenmark	1: 39.54 min
2	ITA	Piero Gros	1: 40.20 min
3	LIE	Paul Frommelt	1: 40.47 min
4th	AUT	Anton Steiner	1: 40.74 min
5	ITA	Mauro Bernardi	1: 42.20 min
6th	FRG	Christian Neureuther	1: 42.74 min
7th	JPN	Toshihiro Kaiwa	1: 43.20 min
8th	United States	Steve Mahre	1: 43.76 min
-	-	-	-
10	SUI	Peter Aelig	1: 44.44 min
11	AUT	Hans Enn	1: 44.75 min
12	FRG	Frank Wörndl	1: 45.33 min
15th	FRG	Albert Frank	1: 47.43 min
18th	LIE	Andreas Wenzel	1: 47.43 min
29	FRG	Sepp Ferstl	1: 50.91 min

Defending champion from 1976: Piero Gros
Date: February 5th, 10:00 am (1st run), 12:30 pm (2nd run) Slope: " Gudiberg "
Length: 450 m, difference in altitude: 190 m
Gates: 67 (1st run) . Run), 62 (2nd run)

There were 102 runners at the start, 39 of them crossed the finish line.

Retired u. a .: Jean-Luc Fournier (SUI), Willi Frommelt (LIE), Klaus Heidegger (AUT), Bojan Križaj (YUG), Peter Lüscher (SUI), Phil Mahre (USA), Wolfram Ortner (AUT), Steve Podborski ( CAN), Petar Popangelow (BUL), Fausto Radici (ITA), Stig Strand (SWE), Boris Strel (YUG), Gustav Thöni (ITA)

combination

space	country	athlete	Points
1	LIE	Andreas Wenzel	2732.34
2	FRG	Sepp Ferstl	2749.64
3	United States	Pete Patterson	2752.28
4th	URS	Vladimir Andreyev	2773.87
5	URS	Valery Zyganov	2779.52
6th	POLE	Maciej Gąsienica	2800.48
7th	GBR	Alan Stewart	2819.95
8th	POLE	Wojciech Gajewski	2843.74

Defending champion 1976: Gustav Thöni
There were 70 runners at the start, 13 of them classified. The positions were determined according to a point system from the results of the downhill, giant slalom and slalom.

Women

Departure

space	country	sportswoman	time
1	AUT	Annemarie Moser-Pröll	1: 48.31 min
2	FRG	Irene Epple	1: 48.55 min
3	SUI	Doris De Agostini	1: 49.11 min
4th	SUI	Marie-Theres Nadig	1: 49.64 min
5	United States	Cindy Nelson	1: 50.26 min
6th	FRG	Evi Mittermaier	1: 50.42 min
7th	AUT	Brigitte Totschnig	1: 50.47 min
8th	AUT	Martina Ellmer	1: 50.89 min
9	AUT	Irmgard Lukasser	1: 50.93 min
10	FRG	Monika Bader	1: 51.04 min
11	SUI	Bernadette Zurbriggen	1: 51.61 min
-	-	-	-
13	SUI	Evelyne Dirren	1: 51.85 min
17th	FRG	Heidi Wiesler	1: 53.33 min
29	LIE	Hanni Wenzel	1: 56.74 min
49	LIE	Petra Wenzel	2: 06.43 min

Defending champion from 1976: Rosi Mittermaier (career ended)
Date: February 1st, 12:00 noon
Slope: "Olympia"
Length: 2800 m, difference in altitude: 680 m
Goals: 31

There were 58 runners at the start, 54 of them reached the finish.

Giant slalom

space	country	sportswoman	time
1	FRG	Maria Epple	2: 41.15 min
2	SUI	Lise-Marie Morerod	2: 41.20 min
3	AUT	Annemarie Moser-Pröll	2: 41.90 min
4th	FRG	Irene Epple	2: 42.02 min
5	LIE	Hanni Wenzel	2: 42.43 min
6th	FRA	Fabienne Serrat	2: 42.83 min
7th	LIE	Ursula Konzett	2: 42.84 min
8th	FRA	Perrine Pelen	2: 43.38 min
9	SUI	Erika Hess	2: 44.25 min
10	FRG	Christa Zechmeister	2: 44.89 min
11	AUT	Lea Sölkner	2: 44.96 min
-	-	-	-
17th	FRG	Regine Mösenlechner	2: 46.13 min
19th	AUT	Brigitte Totschnig	2: 46.48 min
29	LIE	Petra Wenzel	2: 48.60 min
35	SUI	Bernadette Zurbriggen	2: 49.66 min

Defending champion from 1976: Kathy Kreiner
Date: February 4th, 10:00 am (1st run), 1:00 pm (2nd run)
Slope: "Horn"
Height difference: 345 m
Gates: 47 (1st run), 51st run (2nd run)

There were 76 runners at the start, 65 of them reached the finish.

Retired u. a .: Monika Kaserer (AUT), Marie-Theres Nadig (SUI)

slalom

space	country	sportswoman	time
1	AUT	Lea Sölkner	1: 24.85 min
2	FRG	Pamela Behr	1: 25.33 min
3	AUT	Monika Kaserer	1: 25.37 min
4th	FRA	Perrine Pelen	1: 25.67 min
5	FRA	Fabienne Serrat	1: 25.75 min
6th	LIE	Hanni Wenzel	1: 26.09 min
7th	SUI	Lise-Marie Morerod	1: 26.59 min
8th	ITA	Claudia Giordani	1: 26.87 min
9	FRG	Christa Zechmeister	1: 26.99 min
10	FRG	Regine Mösenlechner	1: 27.43 min
-	-	-	-
12	AUT	Sigrid Totschnig	1: 27.84 min
19th	AUT	Annemarie Moser-Pröll	1: 31.60 min

Defending champion from 1976: Rosi Mittermaier (career ended)
Date: February 3rd, 10:00 am (1st run), 12:30 pm (2nd run)
Slope: “Gudiberg”
Length: 320 m, difference in altitude: 160 m
Tore : 50 (1st run), 51 (2nd run)

74 runners were at the start, 42 of them reached the finish.

Retired u. a .: Wanda Bieler (ITA), Christin Cooper (USA), Maria Epple (FRG), Patricia Emonet (FRA), Blanca Fernández Ochoa (ESP), Viki Fleckenstein (USA), Erika Hess (SUI), Ursula Konzett (LIE ), Petra Wenzel (LIE)

combination

space	country	sportswoman	Points
1	AUT	Annemarie Moser-Pröll	2460.39
2	LIE	Hanni Wenzel	2476.80
3	FRA	Fabienne Serrat	2478.44
4th	CAN	Kathy Kreiner	2498.43
5	TCH	Dagmar Kuzmanová	2509.23
6th	United States	Cindy Nelson	2511.63
7th	FRA	Martine Liouche	2525.21
8th	NOR	Torill Fjeldstad	2530.84

Defending champion from 1976: Rosi Mittermaier (career ended)
There were 58 runners at the start, 21 of them classified. The positions were determined according to a point system from the results of the downhill, giant slalom and slalom.

Medal table

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	Austria	4th	-	3	7th
2	Sweden	2	-	-	2
3	BR Germany	1	4th	-	5
4th	Liechtenstein	1	2	2	5
5	Switzerland	-	1	1	2
6th	Italy	-	1	-	1
7th	France	-	-	1	1
	United States	-	-	1	1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Column 3, below: “Sport in short”, second article . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna June 1, 1975, p. 15 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
2. ↑ «The ski congress began» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna June 2, 1955, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
3. ^ "The World Ski Championships in Gastein" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna June 3, 1955, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
4. ↑ top left: «Departure without Elena Matous» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 31, 1978, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
5. ↑ “Matous cannot start for Iran” in “People's newspaper Kärnten” No. 24 of January 31, 1978, page 26
6. ↑ “Wehren gegen Fußballverbindungen” in “Volkszeitung Kärnten” No. 25 of February 1, 1978, pages 30/31
7. ↑ "Eberhard's great opportunity" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 28, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
8. ↑ "Show, Dance and Folklore" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 29, 1978, p. 13; POS .: Column 5, middle ( POS .: Column 5, middle; html = 1 berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
9. ↑ Left column: “Hubsi intim”, last article, in “Volkszeitung Kärnten” No. 23 of January 29, 1978, page 22
10. ↑ «Have the right line» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 27, 1978, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
11. ↑ ^{a b} “Eberhard's great opportunity”; Column 3 with the heading “Falls and a broken leg” . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 28, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
12. ^ "Eberhard's great opportunity" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 28, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
13. ^ "Franz Klammer has many rivals" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 29, 1978, p. 13 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
14. ↑ Gloss: «taken completely wrong» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 30, 1978, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
15. ↑ right, fourth heading: "WM-Slalom without Neureuther" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 30, 1978, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
16. ^ "Debernard suffered a broken leg" in "Volkszeitung Kärnten" No. 22 of January 28, 1978, pages 54/55
17. ↑ Box on the right, center: "New FIS ranks before the start of the World Cup" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 28, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
18. ↑ «Walcher victory despite defect. Klammer is not going to be a professional » . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 30, 1978, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
19. ↑ right: column «picked up»; first contribution «Austria before Austria» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 6, 1978, p. 9 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).