Arlberg-Kandahar race
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The Arlberg Kandahar Race ( "AK" ) is a traditional sporting event in alpine skiing . The premiere took place in St. Anton am Arlberg in 1928 . Other well-known venues are Mürren , Chamonix , Sestriere and Garmisch-Partenkirchen .
Surname
The namesake are the two original organizers of the race, the Arlberg Ski Club in Austria and the British Kandahar Ski Club in Mürren, Switzerland . The latter bears the name of the English military leader Frederick Roberts , who was given the title Earl of Kandahar ("Count of Kandahar ") after his return from Afghanistan . At the first classic downhill race in the history of skiing in Crans-Montana in 1911, Roberts donated the winner's cup.
history
The ski pioneer Arnold Lunn , co-founder of the Kandahar Ski Club, met Hannes Schneider from the Arlberg Ski Club in 1927 . In the same year they organized a ski race for the local youth in St. Anton am Arlberg , for which Arnold Lunn struck out a slalom . This discipline was previously unknown on the Arlberg in its “modern” form developed by Lunn . The event was successful, and so the Arlberg-Kandahar race was held for the first time on March 3rd and 4th, 1928 at Galzig . The competition consisting of slalom and downhill was the first Alpine combination in the history of skiing that was accessible to all ski racers. Previously, there had only been combination decisions in university competitions, the participants of which had to be members of a university team. 45 runners from Austria, Switzerland, England and the USA took part in the first AK race . Just two years later, the founding fathers achieved an important success: The FIS World Ski Federation , which had previously been dominated by the traditional Nordic disciplines , officially recognized alpine skiing in 1930 and included downhill, slalom and combination in its rules.
The AK also took place in St. Anton in 1929 and 1930. From 1931 until the Second World War , Mürren and the Arlberg were alternately the venues. A situation report from 1947 describes that, with the exception of Swiss flags and here and there, a "Bernerfähnli" at this first post-war event with skiers from 10 nations, not even the "Union Jack", actually in honor of the British Kandahar Ski club organized major international races that were seen. The intention was to «show internationality, without signs of nationalism, sport for the sake of sport».
In 1948 Chamonix was added as the third host, but took part in the races on 6/7. March by Switzerland's only three men in part because the Parsenn Derby was given preference
at Murren race (10 to 12 March 1950) was the first time a new set of regulations that the women's downhill on the same day as the men's and also had to drive on a different route (it was held as the first competition on March 10th). In contrast, the men's and women's slalom with 36 and 15 participants respectively took place on March 12th on the same course.
Sestriere and Garmisch-Partenkirchen became new Kandahar locations in 1951 and 1954 respectively (according to reports at the time, Germany itself, not directly GA-PA, was accepted as the Kandahar organizer, which was the case at the final meeting on March 15, 1953 at the previous year's St. Anton races were decided). Lucienne Schmith-Couttet broke her right leg
during downhill training on March 14, 1952 in Chamonix .
In 1963, when the races were held in Chamonix (Les Houches) from March 8th to 10th, there were serious falls during downhill training on the Verte piste. Well-known drivers were affected such as the two Austrians Gerhard Nenning (broken ankle) and Egon Zimmermann (torn ligament in the ankle), the French Gaston Perrot (broken pelvis and open leg after impact on a tree) and Gilbert Arrippe (broken arm) and the Swiss Peter Schneeberger (broken leg ). The women threatened not to start the departure on March 8th due to poor preparation. Ultimately, all races were run, although more was done for safety only after the protests, and the men's track was properly prepared. However, when visibility was poor and the slope was soft, the men's downhill run turned into a lottery on March 9th - Karl Schranz classified himself with start no. 4 with 6 seconds behind on rank 27, Kurt Huggler with start no. 59 as the best Swiss eleventh.
Until the introduction of the Alpine Ski World Cup , after the Olympic Games and the World Championships , the AK races were the most prestigious competitions in Alpine skiing.
As part of the World Cup, the AK races continued to take place annually, but they have lost a lot of their importance in the last decades. Mürren and Sestriere withdrew as organizers in the 1970s.
With the introduction of the World Cup, the combination system also had to be changed. Apart from the fact that combined evaluations were only included in the World Cup program from 1974/75, the Kandahar Slalom was initially not recognized as a World Cup competition. That was because the starting order was based on the result of the downhill run (the downhill winner got start number 1, the runner-up got number 2, etc .; that was also similar for the other large combinations , but had the Kandahar was an additional specialty, because the first 5 numbers started in reverse order, then the sixth placed was continued), while the start numbers in the World Cup were based on the "FIS world rankings". It was also the case that the majority of the world's slalom elite did not take part in these Kandahar slaloms for the time being. In 1970 there was a rescue attempt by the Kandahar organizers in the form of a special slalom group, but this was not taken up. So the race organizers gave in and carried out the slaloms according to the generally applicable regulations.
In 1977 the descent could not be done in St. Anton. It was already planned for February 5th, but storms and rain initially forced it to be postponed to February 6th or 7th, then even February 8th (with the alternative of holding the slalom on the 6th or 7th). So it happened that the slalom was skied on February 6th, and the cancellation had to be made on February 7th, because the affected downhill slope could not be prepared in time (it was decided to postpone the downhill in Laax ). A further postponement was not possible because the various national ski associations had scheduled their championships in the following days.
The name Kandahar is still z. For example, the names of racetracks such as the Kandahar run in Garmisch or the Kandahar Banchetta in Sestriere. The descent in St. Anton, which now takes place on the Kapall , was converted for the 2001 World Cup and has been named after Karl Schranz ever since .
Winners list
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Winner of the AK diamond
Every skier who achieves a podium position in at least one discipline (downhill, slalom or combination) in a year will be awarded an AK badge that year. In rare cases, skiers also receive this badge if they narrowly miss a podium, especially if they do so in two disciplines in one year. Skiers who have won the AK badge three times will be honored with the golden AK badge.
The highest award is the diamond AK badge, the Kandahar pin . This is awarded to ski racers who have won the AK badge five times or who have won the AK badge four times and have at least one victory in the combination.
The following list shows the winners of the diamond AK badge (it may be incomplete): Note.
- Walter Prager : Combination 1930, podium 1931, podium 1932 and podium 1933
- Otto Furrer : Podium 1930, combination 1931, combination 1932 and podium 1934
- Audrey Sale-Barker : Podium 1928, Combination 1929, Combination 1931 and Podium 1935
- James Couttet : podium 1939, combination 1947, combination 1948 and podium 1950
- Celina Seghi : Combination 1947 and 1948, podium 1951, fourth place 1949 Note.
- Marysette Agnel : Combination 1950, Podium 1952, Podium 1954 and Podium 1954
- Andreas Molterer : Podium 1952, combination 1953, combination 1954 and podium 1956
- Trude Klecker : Podium 1952, Podium & Combination 1953, fourth place 1954, Podium 1957 note.
- Karl Schranz : Combination 1957, Combination 1958, Podium & Combination 1959 and Podium 1962
- Traudl Hecher : podium 1960, podium 1961, combination 1962 and podium 1963
- François Bonlieu : Podium 1958, Podium 1959, Podium 1960 and Combination 1963
- Christl Haas : Podium 1960, Podium 1961, Podium 1962, Podium 1963 and Podium 1965
- Jean-Claude Killy : Podium 1963, Podium 1964, Podium 1965 and Combination 1966
- Guy Périllat : combination 1961, podium 1963, podium 1964 and podium 1967
- Gerhard Nenning : Podium 1964, combination 1965, Podium 1966 and Podium 1967
- Karl Schranz won the AK diamond for the second time: Podium 1965, Podium 1966, combination 1969 and Podium 1970
- Gustav Thöni : podium 1971, combination 1973, podium 1974 and podium 1975
- Annemarie Moser-Pröll : podium 1971, podium 1972, combination 1973 and podium 1975
- Ingemar Stenmark : Podium 1975, Podium 1976, Podium 1977, Podium 1978 and Podium 1980
- Phil Mahre : Podium 1978, Podium 1979, Podium 1980 and Combination 1981
- Herbert Plank : podium 1974, podium 1976, podium 1979, podium 1980 and podium 1981
- Peter Lüscher : Podium 1977, combination 1979, Podium 1982 and Podium 1983
- Franz Klammer : Podium 1973, Podium 1974, Podium 1976, Podium 1977 and Podium 1984
- Andreas Wenzel : Podium 1979, Podium 1980, Podium 1983, Podium 1984 and Podium 1985
literature
- Arnold Lunn : The Story of Skiing. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1952, pp. 83-93 ( Chapter Eight: The Arlberg-Kandahar )
Web links
- Website of the AK races in St. Anton
- Website of the AK races in Chamonix (French, English)
- Results of the working group 1928–1955 ( PDF file, 23 kB)
- Results of the working group 1956–1966 ( PDF file, 43 kB)
- Podium places in the World Cup races in St. Anton (not all are part of the AK)
- Podiums in the World Cup races in Chamonix (not all are part of the AK)
- Podiums in the World Cup races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (not all are part of the AK)
Individual evidence
- ↑ From the history of winter sports ( Memento from March 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Arnold Lunn : The Story of Skiing. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1952, p. 46.
- ^ Rudolf Gomperz : The Arlberger Kandahar cup. In: The mountain hare. Yearbook of the Swiss Academic Ski Club. Volume 1, No. 2, 1928, pp. 92-97. (Online at issuu.com)
- ↑ Slalom and downhill runs near St. Anton. In: Sportblatt am Mittag / Sport-Tagblatt. Sports edition of the Neue Wiener Tagblatt , March 7, 1928, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ «12. Arlberg-Kandahar ski race in Mürren »; “Sport Zürich”, No. 32 of March 17, 1947, pages 6 and 7
- ^ "Arlberg-Kandahar and Holmenkollen"; “Sport Zürich”, No. 31 of March 5, 1948, page 3
- ↑ «Idly Walpoth's superior downhill victory»; “Sport-Zurich” No. 31 of March 13, 1950, page 12, column 2, below
- ↑ «Austria continues to lead in slalom» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 17, 1953, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ "Today start of the Kandahar race" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 14, 1952, p. 8 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «Serious falls during Kandahar training» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 8, 1963, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "Annie Famose in front of the world champions" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 9, 1963, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "Kandahar race to Traudl Hecher" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 10, 1963, p. 14 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «The French are just slalom artists» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 12, 1963, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "Traudl Hecher and François Bonlieu Arlberg-Kandahar-Winner" with subtitles: "Chamonix 1963 must not repeat itself", "Men's downhill run with starkly different visibility and a soft slope"; "Sport-Zurich" No. 29 of March 11, 1963, page 9; furthermore »Bonlieu wins the combination in the first slalom run«, »Traudl Hecher's approximately successful slalom« and »Serious training accidents«; »Sport-Zürich« No. 29 of March 11, 1963, page 10
- ↑ “Is the alpine combination still up to date?” In “ski - Official Organ of the German Ski Association” (Unionverlag Stuttgart), Volume 19, Issue No. 4 of December 1, 1966, page 230
- ↑ Schranz: That would have been murderous! - Kandahar with a new slalom formula? In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 1, 1970, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «St. Anton: Storm and rain prevented the departure » . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 6, 1977, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ «Heidegger: So close behind Stenmark is like a victory» and «Continue to worry about departure» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 7, 1977, p. 11 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ «2.5 million for slalom. St. Anton without departure » . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 8, 1977, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ "Kandahar descent to Laax" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 8, 1977, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ And again and again Karl Schranz . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 3, 1970, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ^ Arnold Lunn : The Story of Skiing. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1952, p. 87.
- ^ A b Hermann Nußbaumer: Victory on white slopes. Balance of alpine skiing. 9th expanded edition, Trauner Verlag, Linz 1977, ISBN 3-85320-176-8 , leaflet 4 (without page number).
- ↑ Also the Kandahar race to Austria . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 12, 1957, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
Current World Cup races : Kitzbühel: Hahnenkamm Races | Kranjska Gora: Vitranc Cup | Lake Louise | Levi: Lapland Races | Madonna di Campiglio: 3-Tre race | Maribor: Golden Fox | Sölden: World Cup Opening | Val-d'Isère: first snow criterion | Wengen: Lauberhorn race | Zagreb: Snow Queen Trophy | Different locations: Arlberg-Kandahar race
Former World Cup races: Bad Gastein: Silver Jug Races | Grindelwald: SDS race | Oberstaufen: Staufen Cup | Schruns / Tschagguns: gold key race
Race before or outside of the World Cup: Davos: Parsenn Derby | Grabs: Gamperney Derby | Sugar Bowl: Silver Belt | Sun Valley: Harriman Cup
Children's race: Italy: FIS Children Cup | Canada: Whistler Cup