Austrian skier Johannes Strolz, like the dad in 1988, wins Olympic gold in Alpine combined in Beijing Winter Olympic Games

Gold medallist Austria’s Johannes Ewald Strolz (R) during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and a file photo of his father alpine skier Hubert (L) competing in 1988 during Calgary’s Winter Olympic Games. (AFP)

Like father, like son: Johannes Strolz wins Olympic gold 34 years after dad

Strolz takes surprise gold in Alpine combined race

Just like his father did more than three decades ago, Austrian skier Johannes Strolz won Olympic gold in the Alpine combined race at the Beijing Olympic Games.

The alpine combined consists of one downhill run and one slalom run, both of which are completed on the same day. Most World Cup-level downhill races demand top speeds escalating into the range of 75-95 mph. Slalom discipline, on the other hand, is the most technical event in alpine skiing with gates set very close together. Skiers need to perform fast turns and rapid changes of direction.

About a month before the event, Strolz was not even part of Austria’s competitive Olympic team and, having lost his funding the year ago, had been working as a police officer to supplement his income, driving a patrol car and controlling traffic.

Strolz’s father, Hubert, won gold combined at the 1988 Calgary Games. Hubert Strolz also won silver in the giant slalom that year and almost won another Olympic combined four years later but missed a gate near the end of the second run and was disqualified.

“It’s really a great moment for me and I’m so thankful that I finally can live my dream and have this gold medal in my hands as my father did in 1988 in Calgary and, yeah, just a dream come true,” Strolz said. “The gold medal really means the world to me.”

Strolz and his dad are the first father-son duo to clinch Olympic gold in the same Alpine skiing event.

Strolz had a career-best finish of 10th in more than eight years of World Cup racing before winning a month before events in Adelboden. That victory earned him a spot on the team for the Beijing Games, where he is continuing to prepare his own slalom skis — as he has done all season. A member of the team prepares Strolz’s downhill skis – which he borrowed from Austria’s Super-G gold medallist Matthias Mayer. Ski racers at a national team level have their own material prep specialists who prepare all the materials such as skis, boots, poles, helmets, etc. for them.

https://youtu.be/jFnXSzMIIGc

How Johannes Strolz s First Gold Medal Became the Biggest Moment of the Beijing Olympics 2022

“My skis were perfect today, especially the downhill skis. They were absolute rockets,” Strolz said. “I got the skis from Matthias Mayer and obviously he has very fast skis.”

“It is truly an amazing story,” said Andreas Puelacher, the head coach of Austria’s men’s team. “We knew he was a fast skier on the downhill side and in slalom you’ve seen Adelboden, it was perfect. And after the downhill [today] I can imagine he can make a medal but a gold medal it’s another story.

“I think he had no pressure today. He was successful in Adelboden … and for him, it was easy skiing here with these snow conditions and that’s the reason.”

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