Olympic Winter Games 1936 / Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics
information
venue	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Competition venue	Kandahar descent / Gudiberg
Nations	26th
Athletes	103 (66 , 37 )
date	7th-9th February 1936
decisions	2
St. Moritz 1948 →

At the IV Olympic Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936 , competitions in alpine skiing were on the program for the first time . The decision to join was taken by the International Ski Federation (FIS) at its congress on February 25, 1934 in Sollefteå, Sweden . The International Olympic Committee then decided on the final acceptance into the Olympic program during its 32nd session in Athens in May 1934 .

In departure from the program of the World Ski Championships , medals should only be awarded at the Olympic Games for a combined evaluation of downhill skiing and slalom , as has been organized since 1928 as part of the Arlberg-Kandahar race . The venues for the downhill were the Kandahar downhill run on the Kreuzeck and for the slalom the Gudiberg .

Balance sheet

Medal table

space	country				total
1	German Empire	2	2	-	4th
2	France	-	-	1	1
3	Norway	-	-	1	1

Medalist

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
Combination men	Franz Pfnür	Gustav Lantschner	Émile Allais
Combination women	Christl Cranz	Käthe Grasegger	Laila Schou Nilsen

preview

In a preview of the alpine races on February 7, 1936, “Sport Zürich” stated that, apart from the Swiss and Austrians, pretty much the elite of the skiing world would take part in the men's area. However, because precisely those countries did not send riders to the meeting that were leading in downhill skiing and slalom, the Olympic competition could not be ascribed the extraordinary importance that it actually deserved. The purely amateur status of Émile Allais , who is said to have taken money as a ski instructor, was also questioned. The Italians also took the matter less seriously. Among the Norwegians, King Birger Ruud was highlighted, while the British Peter Lunn , who competed with a balanced team . The Japanese would come to the "Old World" for the first time with a ski team. Poland can count on Bronisław Czech , the Canadians and US drivers should not be among the last after the training results. In the women's area, Germany is the top team with world champion Christl Cranz , the British representatives can be described as their greatest opponents. The Swiss Otto Furrer was entrusted with the training of the Canadians. Of the 125 men entered, 66 remained in the nomination, and 37 women were among the women. For the starting number draw, the officials agreed to divide the field into three groups according to performance and ability and to carry out the draw within these groups.

Results

Alpine Combination (men)

→ Main article : 1936 Winter Olympics / Alpine skiing - Alpine combination (men)

space	country	athlete	Points
1	GER	Franz Pfnür	99.25
2	GER	Gustav Lantschner	96.26
3	FRA	Émile Allais	94.69
4th	NOR	Birger Ruud	93.38
5	GER	Roman Wörndle	91.16
6th	GER	Rudolf Cranz	91.03
7th	ITA	Giacinto Sertorelli	90.39
8th	NOR	Alf Konningen	90.06
9	NOR	Per fossum	88.12
10	United States	Richard Durrance	87.74
11	FRA	Maurice Lafforgue	85.83
12	GBR	Peter Lunn	83.82
13	United States	George Page	82.85
14th	GBR	James Palmer-Tomkinson	82.52
15th	YUG	Ciril Praček	81.54
16	TCH	Walter Hollmann	81.01
17th	ITA	Adriano Guarnieri	80.94
18th	ITA	Vittorio Chierroni	80.80
19th	HUN	László Szalay	79.68
20th	POLE	Bronislaw Czech	79.41

Departure: February 7th, 12:00 p.m.
Length: 3800 m, difference in altitude: 959 m

Slalom: February 9, 9:00 a.m.
Length: 600 m, difference in altitude: 200 m,
gates: 33

66 drivers were at the start, 33 of them reached the finish.

Alpine Combination (women)

→ Main article : 1936 Winter Olympics / Alpine skiing - Alpine combined (women)

space	country	sportswoman	Points
1	GER	Christl Cranz	97.06
2	GER	Käthe Grasegger	95.26
3	NOR	Laila Schou Nilsen	93.48
4th	SUI	Erna Steuri	92.36
5	GER	Hady Pfeifer	91.85
6th	GER	Lisa Resch	88.74
7th	NOR	Johanne Dybwad	85.90
8th	GBR	Jeanette Kessler	83.97
9	GBR	Evelyn Pinching	82.19
10	SUI	Marcelle Bühler	78.87
11	NOR	Nora Strømstad	77.20
12	ITA	Frida Clara	77.17
13	AUT	Grete Nissl	76.86
14th	NED	Gratia Schimmelpenninck	76.09
15th	CAN	Lois Butler	72.31
16	ITA	Paula Wiesinger	72.19
17th	AUT	Hertha Rosmini	70.69
18th	AUT	Margarethe Weikert	70.47
19th	United States	Betty Woolsey	69.24
20th	AUT	Käthe Lettner	68.88

Departure: February 7, 11:00 a.m.
Length: 3300 m, difference in altitude: 820 m

Slalom: February 8, 11:00 a.m.
Length: 600 m, difference in altitude: 200 m
Goals: 23

37 drivers were at the start, 29 of them reached the finish.

Comments on the race

The way the combination points were awarded was unusual at the time (also with this Olympic decision). 100 points were awarded for a race win and the other places were awarded corresponding points in a complicated calculation system in relation to the best time. In addition, in order to assign the end points, there was another comparison situation between the downhill and slalom points, with an average value being formed.

Departure

Both downhills brought surprise victories, with Laila Schou Nilsen in particular causing astonishment. For Norway it was the first victories in a major alpine ski race. In informed circles, victories for the host country were expected for both women and men. A year earlier, both Franz Pfnür and Gustav Lantschner were absent from the German Winter Fighting Games on the “Neuner route” in the men's area , but it was still possible to predict that they both had the best route knowledge.

The downhill runs on the same route (the men started at 1,719 m above sea level from Kreuzjoch, the women a little further down at the so-called "Seele" at 1,580 m, the goal was 760 m at the Kreuzeckbahn ) were extremely selective . Although it was sunny, the participants did not have the best visibility, because the majority of the descent led through a forest and undergrowth. Around 10,000 to 15,000 spectators had gathered. The course setting was obviously geared towards the fact that pure speed driving and the cheeky daring of Birger Ruud should not be enough. In the “labyrinth”, swinging safely between the fir trees played a major role. The four best Germans had a better time with 19: 55.2 than the four Norwegians who were also among the top ten (20: 02.6). Overall, the runners were farther apart than in the Kandahar races . Schou Nilsen took the steep slope with ease. Cranz was not careful with a traverse, fell into a hole with a snowdrift and lost around 20 seconds before it came up and away. The Swiss Anny Rüegg was unable to start because of a training injury that she sustained on February 4th .

The ten best of each downhill:

Men space country athlete Time (min) Points 1  NOR Birger Ruud 4: 47.4 100.00 2  GER Franz Pfnür 4: 51.8 098.49 3  GER Gustav Lantschner 4: 58.2 096.38 4th  FRA Émile Allais 4: 58.8 096.18 5  NOR Alf Konningen 5: 00.4 095.67 6th  GER Roman Wörndle 5: 01.2 095.42 7th  NOR Per fossum 5: 03.2 094.79 8th  GER Rudolf Cranz 5: 04.0 094.54 9  ITA Giacinto Sertorelli 5: 05.0 094.23 10  NOR Sigmund Ruud 5: 11.6 092.23

Women space country sportswoman Time (min) Points 1  NOR Laila Schou Nilsen 5: 04.4 100.00 2  GER Lisa Resch 5: 08.4 098.70 3  GER Käthe Grasegger 5: 11.0 097.88 4th  CHE Erna Steuri 5: 20.4 095.01 5  GER Hady Pfeifer 5: 21.6 094.65 6th  GER Christl Cranz 5: 23.4 094.12 7th  GBR Evelyn Pinching 5: 27.2 093.03 8th  NOR Johanne Dybwad 5: 32.0 091.69 9  ITA Marcelle Bühler 5: 51.6 086.58 10  ITA Paula Wiesinger 5: 55.2 085.70

slalom

After Christl Cranz finished 6th in the downhill, she proved the following day that she was the world's best slalom runner. The other Germans also fell very clearly behind, but together with Erna Steuri they were still a long way ahead of the rest of the field. The starting order in the slalom was based on the placement achieved in the downhill. So Laila Schou Nilsen started ahead of Resch, Grasegger etc. (the same order was given in the second round). In the first run, Cranz was already 4 seconds faster than Grasegger. A goal mistake already brought Schou Nilsen a significant loss (six penalty seconds). Steuri had a short fall in the upper part of the route and lost five to six seconds, Lisa Resch was also stuck at a key point. Hady Pfeifer was not responsible for any gross error. Dybwad, Kessler and Schimmelpenninck were still among those runners who were up to the task. Although the Norwegian initially set the fastest time in the second run and was mostly much faster than the other competitors, Cranz then hurried away. After Grasegger's end time it was already clear that Schou Nilsen would not win.

For the men's slalom, crowds of people had never seen before at a ski competition. 52 extra trains from Munich had brought 30,000 to 40,000 interested people, many of whom brought their own provisions. The others were fed by a “Bayern” relief train and the makeshift festival hall of the organization Kraft durch Freude, which was built in three days . Even though the start of the race was scheduled for 11 a.m., thousands of people went to the Gudiberg at dawn to secure a good spot. From 10 a.m. there was no more free space in the main stands, the estimated number of spectators was between 60,000 and 70,000. The course was very difficult; of the 60 remaining runners from the downhill, four did not start. There were some tricky combinations to be mastered, some parts were soon rubbed so shiny that many participants lost their grip on the ice and slipped. About 14 drivers showed really good slalom driving, after that the running times skyrocketed. While Franz Pfnür set the fastest times twice, many runners needed more than 100 seconds or even twice as much. The first run took over two hours to complete. Therefore, the jury decided to dispense 21 runners for the second run (two more had been disqualified). As a result, only 33 runners started the second course and all of them were able to classify.

The ten best of each slalom:

Men space country athlete Time (min) Points 1  GER Franz Pfnür 2: 26.6 100.00 2  GER Gustav Lantschner 2: 32.2 096.13 3  FRA Émile Allais 2: 37.3 096.38 4th  GER Rudolf Cranz 2: 47.5 087.52 5  GER Roman Wörndle 2: 48.7 086.90 6th  NOR Birger Ruud 2: 49.0 086.75 7th  ITA Giacinto Sertorelli 2: 49.4 086.54 8th  United States Richard Durrance 2: 53.3 084.59 9  NOR Alf Konningen 2: 53.6 084.45 10  FRA Maurice Lafforgue 2: 53.7 084.40

Women space country sportswoman Time (min) Points 1  GER Christl Cranz 2: 22.1 100.00 2  GER Käthe Grasegger 2: 33.4 092.63 3  SUI Erna Steuri 2: 38.4 089.71 4th  GER Hady Pfeifer 2: 39.6 089.04 5  NOR Laila Schou Nilsen 2: 43.4 086.96 6th  GBR Jeanette Kessler 2: 47.9 084.63 7th  NOR Johanne Dybwad 2: 57.4 080.10 8th  GER Lisa Resch 3: 00.4 078.77 9  ITA Clara Frida 3: 13.2 073.55 10  AUT Grete Nissl 3: 17.2 072.06

Web links

• Overview of all races in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
• Alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Sport Zürich", February 7, 1936, p. 2.
2. ↑ ^{a b} «First Norwegian double victory in Garmisch». Sport Zurich, February 8, 1936, pp. 1 and 2.
3. ↑ ^{a b} “As expected: Franz Pfnür combination winner” in “Sport Zürich” No. 19 of February 10, 1936, p. 4.