Egon Zimmermann (8 February 1939 – 23 August 2019),
/ref> often referred to as Egon Zimmermann II, was a World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Zimmermann won the Olympic downhill at Patscherkofel in 1964 and won several medals on the professional tour in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Early life

Zimmermann was raised on a farm near Lech,

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, with two brothers. Lech blossomed into a ski resort while he was growing up, and his family converted their farm house into a pensione. His childhood coincided with the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

poverty of Austria, so not only did Zimmermann have no formal training, but his skis were often "fourth or fifth-hand." At 15, his father forced him to learn a trade, and he enrolled in a

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

program in Paris. Zimmermann returned to Austria by the time he reached 18, and won a clean sweep of the 1958 Junior Championships. When he was promoted to the National team, he commented: "For me it was also the realization of a childhood dream, a dream interrupted by a kitchen."

Career peak and Olympics

Zimmermann won two medals at the 1962 World Championships in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, a gold in the giant slalom and a bronze in downhill. He was named the "Skier of the Year" in 1963 by European journalists. For the 1964 Olympics in Austria, the "dashing" and "handsome" Zimmermann was heavily favored to win. However, the course at Patscherkofel was quite difficult (nicknamed the "Course of Fear"), but he still managed to win by 0.74 seconds. (

Franz Klammer Franz Klammer (born 3 December 1953) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria. He dominated the downhill event for four consecutive World Cup seasons (1975– 78). He was the gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, ...

famously won on the same course a dozen years later in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

.) He did not enter the slalom and did not finish the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

. Despite not sweeping the alpine events as did his compatriot

Toni Sailer Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer (17 November 1935 – 24 August 2009) was an Austrian Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer, considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, Zimmermann appeared on the 10 February 1964 cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' magazine in the United States.

Personal life

He owned a hotel in Lech am Arlberg and suffered from

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. Zimmermann also helped create Zimmermann's ski and snowboard in 1969. Zimmermann died on 23 August 2019 at the age of 80.

References

External links

*
FIS-ski.com
– Egon Zimmermann – World Cup season standings *
Ski-db.com
– results – 1964 Winter Olympics * *

– Egon Zimmermann – ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmermann, Egon 1939 births 2019 deaths Austrian male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Austria Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic cauldron lighters Olympic alpine skiers for Austria Skiers from Vorarlberg 20th-century Austrian sportsmen