Gustav Thöni – king of the ski slopes

What all the signs were pointing towards became a certainty in winter 1969/70: Gustav Thöni was the man to beat. “An Italian bambino” was stealing the show from the veteran skiers, wrote the Bild newspaper. Thöni achieved win after win, his revolutionary weight-shifting technique set new standards, and Gustav was the favourite at the 1970 World Cup in Val Gardena/Gröden. The frenzy for the Trafoi local knew no bounds; he was cheered, besieged, mobbed. But the skiing itself didn’t turn out as hoped. In the slalom, Thöni took fourth place, narrowly missing out on the medal, while a slip brought the giant slalom to an end after just three gates. Nevertheless: Even following the bungled World Cup at home, Italy still stood behind its new star. “Thöni didn’t turn it into a drama: no tears, no accusations, no playing the victim, no excuses,” wrote the Corriere dello Sport. “He lost gracefully, and that’s sometimes much more difficult than winning.”

The home World Cup in 1970 didn’t break Gustav Thöni’s stride. Quite the contrary: He entered the 1970/71 season even stronger, reached the podium 11 times in 17 races, and in spring became winner of the overall World Cup for the first time, prompting never-before-seen levels of elation in South Tyrol. “This is a magical moment that has only just begun, is set to last, and whose end can’t yet be predicted,” rejoiced Bolzano daily newspaper Alto Adige. Its German-speaking equivalent, the Dolomiten, agreed, saying: “South Tyrol currently has the best Alpine skier in the world!” And the entire region wanted to see him. Thöni was enthusiastically welcomed, shown off, congratulated. And the celebrations of 1971 were just a warm-up, as two further overall World Cup victories followed in the two subsequent years. Gustav Thöni and the Crystal Globe: inseparable from 1971 to 1973.

Something that is at risk of being eclipsed by all Gustav Thöni’s successes: what might be the best technical team in history developed in his wake. On 7 January 1974, that even became clear to those who knew next to nothing about skiing. At the giant slalom in Berchtesgaden, the “Azzurri” achieved a fivefold triumph. “Sulla Coppa del Mondo di sci è scesa la valanga azzurra,” a blue avalanche descended on the Ski World Cup, announced the Corriere della Sera. This “blue avalanche”, whose driving force, motivator, inspiration, and figurehead was Gustav Thöni, would shape an entire decade. From 1970 to 1979, the Azzurri won six Olympic medals (two gold), six World Cup medals (four gold), five overall World Cups, six discipline standings, and 156 podium placings in the World Cup. That makes the “blue avalanche” one of the most successful sports teams of all time and caused a real ski boom in Italy: both on the slopes and in front of the television.

The “blue avalanche” was rolling, and Italy had become a nation of skiers and ski fans. The World Cup in St. Moritz in 1974 came at the perfect time. In the giant slalom, Gustav Thöni skied his competition into the ground in front of 12,000 spectators and won World Cup gold. In the slalom, that turned into more than 20,000 spectators. Except: 1.48 seconds behind, Thöni ended up in eighth place in his first run. “Okay, fine, I’ve got one medal and I’m going to lose the second anyway …”, thought Thöni before the second run and simply let loose. It was the run of the century. The Trafoi local won gold number two – and it shines especially brightly. “Its like has never been seen before,” commented Austrian champion downhill skier Franz Klammer at the time. And the La Stampa newspaper wrote: “In his second run, Thöni skied as he never has before – and as no other skier in the world ever has before.”

The World Cup winter of 1974/75 was one of tight decisions. Very, very tight. First, Gustav Thöni missed out on victory on the “Streif” in Kitzbühel by three thousandths of a second, meaning three skiers went into the World Cup final with the same points: Franz Klammer, Ingemar Stenmark, and Gustav Thöni. 32,000 live spectators and 150 million on television watched the final in Val Gardena/Gröden, numbers that had, until then, been reserved for the first moon landing. In the Val Gardena/Gröden parallel slalom, Thöni and Stenmark fought their way into the final race. It was pandemonium at the foot of the Ronc slope, and after almost four hours of races, almost everyone was on edge. Only one person seemed to have kept his cool: Gustav Thöni. He started the final run like possessed and brought Stenmark to his knees. “His majesty, Gustav the fourth,” cried the headlines of La Stampa following the historic final. What more can be said after Crystal Globe number four?

The Olympic Games are the crowning glory of any sportsperson’s career, and Gustav Thöni took part in no fewer than three. Not on the side lines, of course, but always in a starring role. That applies in particular to the 1972 Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, where Thöni snapped up two medals with gold in the giant slalom and silver in the slalom (ahead of Roland Thöni, by the way). Thöni’s golds were like fuel being poured on the fire of Italy’s love for skiing. Four years later, Thöni was the star at the “local” games in Innsbruck. He was the first South Tyrolean to lead the Azzurri as flagbearer and also put on a good sporting show, winning Olympic silver in the slalom. The Games in 1980 in Lake Placid were the only ones where Thöni went home without a medal. They are like the final show in a unique career, the big stage where a world star bowed out after a decade of success.

In spring 1980, Gustav Thöni ended his sporting career and tried his hand at various new roles in his “new” life: as a hotelier, businessman (he founded a sporting goods company with football star Paolo Rossi), and even as an actor. But in 1982, he returned as a technique trainer to the Azzurri team, which was experiencing new-found success with one man: Alberto Tomba. The eccentric Bolognian turned the ski world upside down – along with his own team. Because of this, a private team was created, led by Gustav Thöni. He was one of the few people that Tomba accepted instructions from. The “cold fusion” of these two completely different characters worked, and Thöni led Tomba from success to success. In the post-Tomba era, Thöni worked his way up to Alpine and sport manager, after which he retreated to his private life, to the place where he’d always felt most at ease: to Trafoi and his family.