Killy made a killing.
I’m referring to France’s skiing legend, Jean-Claude Killy, who made Olympic history when he won the gold medal in three Alpine skiing events [Giant Slalom, Slalom, Downhill] within one Olympic Games. He’s only the second skier who ever accomplished such a feat, the first was Austria’s Toni Sailer in 1956.
Killy was already the defending World Cup champion but chose to compete in the 1968 Olympic Games in Grenoble, France, instead.
This occurence didn’t pass without controversy, though. Two major issues were:
- One was the question of his winning in the Slalom event since Norway’s Haakon Mjoen and Austria’s Karl Schranz both posted better times but were disqualified for missing gates.
- And the other, the anti-commercialism storm that then IOC president Avery Brundage concocted, his efforts singled out the Alpine ski organisations and the skiers. And it even came to a point that Brundage did not attend the medal ceremonies just to show his contempt.
Killy was criticised heavily for allowing company trademarks on his equipment, which were seen on post-race photographs.
However, Killy’s Olympic performance, winning the triple crown, gave the necessary boost to France’s national ski team and played a big role in the country’s fourth place finish and not to mention, their best medal haul ever, 9 medals. This made Killy the most recognized skier in his generation and one of the skiing icons of Olympic history.
Tags: Alpine Skiing, Grenoble 1968, Olympics, Trivia, Winter OlympicsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Light the Torch, Trivia, Winter Olympics
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