Klammer and Svindal receive honorary Kitzbuehel gondolas

By Published On: October 30th, 2013Comments Off on Klammer and Svindal receive honorary Kitzbuehel gondolas

SKI ALPIN - Gondel-Uebergabe, Franz Klammer, Aksel Lund SvindalOn Monday (Oct. 28), Kitzbuehel champions Franz Klammer and Aksel Lund Svindal were officially presented with their gondolas in recognition of past triumphs. The gondolas were handed over to the two great athletes in the presence of K.S.C. President Michael Huber, Josef Burger (Bergbahn AG Kitzbuehel Cable Car Co.), and Gerhard Walter, director of Kitzbuehel Tourism.

Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who so far has celebrated 21 World Cup wins in his career and has competed 35 times in Kitzbuehel, finished among the top 10 an impressive 13 times. A second place in the 2003 combined event proved to be the first of his five podium finishes in Kitzbuehel, and he won the super G race in 2013. Moreover, Svindal has also picked up 11 medals at major alpine ski events (gold, silver and bronze respectively at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, as well as five gold, one silver, and two bronze medals at World Ski Championships). Two Overall World Cup triumphs and seven discipline victories are even more additions to his extraordinary curriculum vitae.

SKI ALPIN - Gondel-Uebergabe, Franz Klammer, Aksel Lund SvindalFranz Klammer, the 1976 Olympic downhill champion, finished in a respectable fourth position at his first downhill on the Streif on Jan. 27, 1973. Klammer ultimately won the downhill four times, came second once, and secured third place in the 1976 combined. By 1985, Klammer had competed 16 times at Kitzbühel and was among the top 10 an extraordinary 13 times. Austria’s Sportsman of the Year in 1975, 1976 and 1983, he celebrated a total of 26 World Cup wins and 46 podium positions. Two gold and one silver medal at World Championships can be found on his résumé as well as five overall wins and second place in the downhill World Cup, as well as ranking third in the 1975 and 1977 overall World Cup.

Release courtesy of FISAlpine

Photos: Klammer and Svindal accept their honorary gondolas for past victories in Kitzbuehel (credit: GEPA/Hans Osterauer)

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