Josefine "Putzi" Frandl (later ''Crotty'', born 5 July 1930) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n former alpine ski racer. She was among the world's best ski racers in the mid-1950s. She competed in the

1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Olimpici invernali) and commonly known as Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 ( lld, Anpezo 1956 or ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from ...

, the 1958 Alpine World Ski Championships and the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

. She was born in

Radstadt Radstadt (Central Bavarian: ''Rodstoud'' or ''Rodstod'') is a historic town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography The town is part of the Salzburg Pongau region. It is located in the valley of the ...

Major Competitions History

she won the silver medal in the giant slalom event. In the slalom competition she finished fifth and had a 13th-place finish in the downhill contest. Four years later, at the Squaw Valley, California

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, she finished 16th in the 1960 slalom event, 21st in the giant slalom competition, and 39th in the downhill contest. Frandl and some of her friends and teammates went out to ski the fresh powder snow. Unfortunately, while coming down one run, the tip of one of Frandl's skis went under a log hidden just under the newly fallen snow. Her shin hit the log hard, scraping it and straining her leg. Frandl believed that the injury possibly prevented her from winning another Olympic Medal. At the 1958 World Championships, Frandl won silver in slalom and bronze in the combined.

Personal life

After retiring Frandl worked as a

ski instructor A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

in Austria. In one of her classes she met

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

officer Patrick Crotty. They eventually married. Patrick's career took Putzi and their family to many places, and whenever there was a ski resort close enough Putzi would teach skiing. Among the places she taught were

Mad River Mountain Mad River Mountain is a ski and snowboard resort in Valley Hi, Ohio, United States. The elevation of Mad River Mountain is with a vertical drop of , and it has a ski season that runs from approximately mid-December through mid-March. The resort, ...

and Copper Mountain. She worked at Copper during the 2008–2009 season but decided to concentrate on her "second love",

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

in 2009–2010. She lives in

Centennial, Colorado Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a par ...

References

External links

profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frandl, Putzi 1930 births Living people Austrian female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Austria Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Austria Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics People from Radstadt