Downhill, Men

The men’s downhill was scheduled as the opening Alpine event of the 1964 Winter Olympics, beginning a tradition that still continues. But it began neath the mist of tragedy, as Australian Ross Milne had been killed during a training run on the Patscherkofel when he collided with a tree. The early leader was Frenchman Léo Lacroix, who posted 2:18.90 as the fourth starter. Three spots later, Egon Zimmermann, one of the leaders of the Austrian team, entered the starting gate. Zimmermann had won the 1962 giant slalom World Championship and was bronze medalist that year in the downhill, also winning the vaunted Hahnenkamm downhill in 1963. He moved ahead of Lacroix with a time of 2:18.16. But the competition could not be over until the 13th skier went down, Austrian Karl Schranz, the 1962 World Champion in downhill and combined. But Schranz made several mistakes in his run, placing only 11th and the gold medal was Zimmermann’s.

In this era, there were two Egon Zimmermann’s competing on the Austrian ski team, which has led to some confusion about their lives. Josef Egon Norbert Zimmermann competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics in downhill, after competing at the 1958 World Championships, where he met American skier, Penny Pitou. They later married but divorced in 1968. The winner of this event is simply Egon Zimmermann, who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics, of whom it is often written that he married Pitou, which is incorrect. However, this Egon Zimmermann, the Olympic downhill champion, was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.