There are celebrations for Austria's ski racing: Franz Klammer gets a movie, the season opens in Sölden. But the Olympics hovers above everything – and the vaccination debate.
Vaccinated? Of course, answers Franz Klammer , and is amazed that not all current ski stars can say this about themselves. Or do not want to. To coincide with the national holiday, the premiere of a film about Klammer, who had become a national hero in 1976, will take place on October 26th. School classes had been given time off, machines were idle in factories. It feels like as many Austrians as before and never again squatted in front of the television. Hoped that Klammer could master the pressure to succeed at home Olympics. Little indicated.
The downhill series winner did not dominate a single training session. In addition, there was trouble with the outfitter who wanted to see him at the start with revolutionary 2.23-meter battens at the Olympics. Klammer refused to strap on the ski with the hole in the shovel. Also rejected the golden racing suit that ÖOC had forced on him.
Klammer didn't want to show off. He only wanted to get gold in medal form, which he succeeded despite the unfavorable number 15 thanks to a wild ride over the undulating Patscherkofel. In which he drove 33 hundredths faster than the best in training and Olympic champion in 1972, Bernhard Russi.
In the film, which Tuesday in Villach premiere guests such as Boris Becker and 12 Olympic champions and from October 28th will see “Normalos” in the cinemas, the Carinthian Julian Waldner , 25, plays the Kärntner Klammer. On skis, the ex-Super-G world champion Daron Rahlves , 48, and the former South Tyrolean World Cup pilot Werner Heel , 39, act as “ghost racers” for Klammer, 67, and Russi, 73. The Swiss who came from Klammer's rival has long since become a friend of the brackets. On Monday, the two will appear together on Servus TV in Hangar-7, where the question of the Olympics in 2022 will not fail to appear. Because:
🎥Behind the Scenes🎥
An exclusive look behind the scenes at the ÖSV Technik Team 😉🇦🇹⛷
Link: https://t.co/R9G6IvJU6y@soeldencom @fisalpine # ÖSV #SkiAustria #BehindtheScenes pic.twitter.com/wuOWRblFlh
– Ski Austria Alpin Men (@SkiAustria_Men) October 22, 2021
As a proven slope architect at FIS, Russi also designed the slope 90 kilometers north of Beijing. According to the Styrian Chinese coach Willi Zechner , she is quite worthy. Worries will not be about any Russi traps, but the wind and above all the Chinese Corona regulations.
Double world champion Katharina Liensberger still shies away from vaccinations. Knowing very well that the Chinese make it very difficult for unvaccinated people to enter the country. A top Swiss runner and a Swiss Olympic champion (who still want to remain anonymous) say behind masks and in front of their hands that they would rather do without China than let themselves be stabbed. Even for vaccinated people it would be uncomfortable if only one of the many tests on site were positive.
That someone like the vaccinated Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann , who learned of the unpleasant test result in Lisbon before Bayern's 4-0 win, can jet home by private jet and get tested after five days, will not play at the Olympics. Three weeks of quarantine are planned in the event of a vaccination breakthrough. In a mini-room. With locked windows. And Chinese television as a pastime.
