Franz Gabl

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Franz Gabl Alpine skiing
nation AustriaAustria Austria
birthday December 29, 1921
place of birth St. Anton am Arlberg , Austria
date of death January 23, 2014
Place of death Bellingham , United States
Career
discipline Downhill , slalom ,
giant slalom , combination
society Ski Club Arlberg
End of career 1952
Medal table
Olympic games 0 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
World Championship 0 × gold 1 × silver 0 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
silver St. Moritz 1948 Departure
World ChampionshipTemplate: medals_winter sports / maintenance / unrecognized
silver St. Moritz 1948 Departure
 

Franz X. Gabl (born December 29, 1921 in St. Anton am Arlberg ; † January 23, 2014 in Bellingham (Washington) , USA ) was an Austrian ski racer . He won the silver medal in the downhill at the 1948 Winter Olympics .

biography

Gabl, like his older brother Josef "Pepi" Gabl , came to skiing at an early age and achieved some successes at a young age, especially in ski jumping . In 1935 he became Tyrolean youth champion and won the national youth championship in 1936. But then he had to give up jumping due to a serious injury and from then on concentrated entirely on the alpine competitions. In 1940 his sporting career was interrupted for the time being because he was drafted into military service. Wounded several times, he returned to Austria from brief Soviet captivity in August 1945.

Now the real skiing career of the Tyrolean began. In the winter of 1945/46 he had to limit himself to national competitions, as the ÖSV runners were not allowed to compete abroad. The next winter he celebrated his first major successes: he won the slalom at the regional meeting in Seefeld , the giant slalom at the traditional Glockner race and in 1947 was runner-up in the Austrian slalom behind Egon Schöpf . With good performances in the ÖSV internal eliminations, he finally qualified for the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz , Switzerland , where the alpine competitions also counted as the world championships. There he won the silver medal in the downhill behind the superior winner Henri Oreiller from France. "Back then, skiing was not a source of income that could secure a real living for a young skier. There were no advertising contracts or appearances in talk shows. In the post-war period, there was what was necessary for life, but often too scarce In a congratulatory letter from the Austrian Olympic Committee it says: We are pleased to inform you that 1 packet of rice (5 kilos) and 1 packet of sugar (5 kilos) has been dedicated to you, which you can fix in Vienna, Liechtensteinerstr . "

In the winter of 1949 Gabl had to pause for a long time due to an injury, but was able to win several races again the next winter. At the west cup in Lech he won the combination with the ideal grade zero, in St. Anton he won the Hannes Schneider Cup . This made him the great hope for a medal at the 1950 World Cup in Aspen . However, he could not cope with the unfamiliar conditions and did not achieve any top positions.

After this World Cup, Gabl stayed in the USA , celebrated a few more victories there and then worked as a ski instructor. He temporarily moved to Canada and coached the Canadian women's Olympic team from 1952 and four years later that of the men. He then sold ski products and ski clothing in the USA and Canada and became a successful businessman. He died in January 2014.

His nephew is the meteorologist Karl Gabl . The Austrian ski racer Gertrud Gabl was his niece.

successes

winter Olympics

World championships

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Stephanie Geiger: Franz Gabl in memory. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on November 11, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.skiclubarlberg.at
  2. ^ Former skier Franz Gabl has died. Kleine Zeitung , January 29, 2014, accessed January 29, 2014 .
  3. Karl Gabl in "Mensch, Otto!" (No longer available online.) Bayern 3 , February 21, 2014, archived from the original on February 26, 2014 ; accessed on February 21, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ardmediathek.de
  4. List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)