Josef Walcher
| — Alpine skier — | |||||||||||||
Walcher in December 1977
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| Disciplines | Downhill | ||||||||||||
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| Born |
8 December 1954 Schladming, Styria, Austria |
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| Died | 22 January 1984 (aged 29) Schladming, Styria, Austria |
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| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | December 1972 (age 18) | ||||||||||||
| Retired | March 1982 (age 27) | ||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 – (1976, 1980) | ||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | ||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 – (1976, 1978, 1980) | ||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||
| Seasons | 10 – (1973–1982) | ||||||||||||
| Wins | 5 – (5 DH) | ||||||||||||
| Podiums | 13 – (13 DH) | ||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (7th in 1978) | ||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (2nd DH: 1977, 1978) | ||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Josef "Sepp" Walcher (December 8, 1954 – January 22, 1984) was an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. He specialized in the downhill event and won the gold medal at the World Championships in 1978 at Garmisch, West Germany.
Born in Schladming, Styria, Walcher made his World Cup debut in December 1972, two days after his 18th birthday. Two months later, he scored his first World Cup points (and podium) with a runner-up finish at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Walcher's first World Cup victory came in January 1977 at Morzine, France, his seventh podium. His best two seasons were 1977 and 1978, finishing runner-up to compatriot Franz Klammer in the downhill standings both years. A week prior to his win at the world championships in 1978, Walcher won consecutive downhills at Kitzbühel, Austria.
Walcher retired after the 1982 season with five World Cup victories and thirteen podium finishes. Two years later, he was killed at age 29 in a skiing accident in a benefit race in 1984 at his hometown of Schladming.
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
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