Industry News
The town of Kitzbühel, Austria, celebrated ski legend Toni Sailer on Monday, November 17, with the naming of the Toni Sailer Square (Toni Sailer Platz) on what would have been his 90th birthday. In a tribute befitting his legendary status, the local ski club and municipality unveiled a name plaque along with a concert by the Kitzbühel Town Band and speeches from his son Florian Sailer and other dignitaries, followed by the screening of the new documentary “Toni Sailer – Spuren einer Legende” (English: “Traces of a Legend”).
“My father was more of a quiet connoisseur, but that would have made him very happy,” said his son, Florian Sailer. “I myself am also very pleased that this event has come true, and would like to thank everyone involved.”
Born in Kitzbühel on November 17, 1935, Anton ‘Toni’ Sailer grew up on skis. At just 20 years old, Sailer made history at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where he achieved the impossible: claiming gold in all three alpine disciplines: Downhill, Giant Slalom, and Slalom (Super-G did not exist as an Olympic discipline until 1980). His winning times were by such a big margin, particularly in Giant Slalom, where he won with a lead of 6.2 seconds, he was dubbed “Der schwarze Blitz vom Kitz” (English: “the black flash from Kitz”). Since the Winter Olympics were also the Alpine World Championships from 1948 until 1980, this also made him a triple World Champion.
He almost repeated that feat two years later at the 1958 FIS World Championships in Bad Gastein, Austria, where Sailer added two gold medals and a silver to his medal tally. Even to this day, only four skiers have ever been able to win both the Downhill and Giant Slalom at a single World Championship. Most recently, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt won gold in Downhill and Giant Slalom at the 2023 World Championships. Before him, Aksel Lund Svindal managed this rare feat in 2007–the Norwegian is now coach to USA’s Lindsey Vonn. The other two are Zeno Colo in 1950, Toni and Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. Sailer is the only one who managed this twice, and the only skier in history to achieve the triple-hat-trick.
Back in those days, ski racers retired in their early 20s, and Sailer was no exception, retiring at only 23 years of age in 1959. Skiing interfered with his career in acting, on which he embarked after his retirement, and he went on to star in more than a dozen films. However, Sailer’s connection to skiing did not end there. He served as president of the Kitzbühel Ski Club and worked for decades to promote the alpine racing sport. He acted as race director of the legendary Hahnenkamm downhill—one of the world’s most feared and revered mountain races—for 20 years, until his retirement in 2006.
Sailer also ran a hotel on land given to him by the town of Kitzbühel, created his own ski clothing line, which still exists to this day, and was instrumental in pioneering fiberglass ski production with his sponsor Kästle, helping modernize ski gear in the postwar era. In addition, he served as a coach and technical director for the Austrian Ski Association in the 1970s, shaping a generation of skiers—including future champion Franz Klammer.
This latest, posthumous honor, was just one of many. He was honored throughout his life: in 1985, the International Olympic Committee awarded him the Olympic Order, and in 1999, he was named Austria’s Sportspersonality of the Century.
Sailer died in 2009 from cancer and is survived by his second wife, Hedwig Fischer, and his son Florian. Florian is his only son from his first marriage to Gaby Rummeny, who died from cancer in 2000. The German actress and the Austrian ski racer had been married for 24 years.
Toni Sailer put the village of Kitzbühel squarely on the global map and has been instrumental in turning his hometown into one of the most well-known and glamorous ski resorts in the world. The Toni Sailer Platz will serve as a gathering place, a landmark, and a reminder of what one man from a small Alpine town could achieve.
