Alfred Matt
Alfred Matt ( born May 11, 1948 in Zams ) is a former Austrian alpine skier. He won the bronze medal in the slalom at the Winter Olympics in 1968 and two races in Alpine skiing.
Career
Alfred Matt, a nephew of the slalom world champion Matt Rudolph, began at the age of twelve years intensively with the skiing. Soon the first successes and Matt counted in all disciplines of the best young Austrian runners. In 1965, he was Austrian Junior Champion in slalom, downhill and combined and 1967 junior champion in giant slalom as well as in the combination. In addition, he still achieved numerous podium finishes in the junior championships. From the winter 1966/1967 he belonged to the squad of the Austrian Ski Federation, and with good results in FIS races, including three wins in his now strongest discipline, the slalom, he secured a place in the Austrian World Cup team.
In the World Cup Matt reached at the beginning of the 1968 season third in the slalom in Wengen and rank two on Ganslernhang in Kitzbühel. These services he confirmed at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, as he left Jean -Claude Killy and Herbert Huber won the bronze medal in the slalom - after the supposed winner Karl Schranz was disqualified. The Olympics included time at the same time as the World Championships and the World Cup. Another podium finish he achieved in March 1968 in the slalom in Aspen.
The following season 1968/1969 was for Matt to his most successful in the World Cup. He won the first slalom on January 3 in Berchtesgaden, was then washed three times on the podium - once each in slalom and giant slalom, and, surprisingly, also in the downhill - and celebrated on March 16 in Mont Sainte -Anne his second slalom victory. This was the then 20 -year-old in a currently unique decision together with three Frenchmen one of four winners in the same points Slalom World Cup. This result was possible because at that time only the best three race results for the World Cup discipline were counted. With its good performance in giant slalom and downhill and also achieved the fourth place in the overall World Cup. Also off of the World Cup celebrated Matt successes, for example, with the victory in the slalom in St. Anton at the Arlberg - Kandahar race and its two Austrian league titles in giant slalom and in the combination.
In the coming years, Matt's career was repeatedly interrupted by injuries and as a result he never came right up to his earlier results. After a broken leg Matt fell out of the whole winter 1969/1970 season and the 1970/1971, in the fifth place in the slalom in Berchtesgaden his best result was, he had to end prematurely after a further leg injury. In the winter of 1971/1972 was only a ninth place in the slalom in Kitzbuehel his best World Cup result, yet he managed to qualify for the Austrian Olympic team. At the Winter Games Sapporo in 1972 he went to 14th place in the slalom. In the season 1972/1973 Matt again reached the fourth place in the slalom Naeba well as other top -10 results in the World Cup and it was the third time Austrian champion, this time in the slalom. However, a renewed broken leg in 1973 meant the end of career for him.
Over the next two years, Matt started as a professional in North America, remained there but without any major success. In 1975 he moved to the coaches and initially looked after several years as a technology coach of the Austrian Ski European Cup group before to 1982, he took over the World Cup group from the beginning of the 1980s. Today, he runs a small bar in Sankt Anton am Arlberg.
Sporting successes
Olympic Winter Games
( included at the same time as World Championships )
- Grenoble 1968: 3rd slalom
- Sapporo 1972 14 Slalom
World Cup
- Season 1968: 5th World Cup slalom
- Season 1968/1969: 4th overall World Cup, 1 World Cup Slalom, Downhill World Cup 9, 10 giant slalom World Cup
- 9 podiums ( the Olympic slalom in 1968 also scored for the World Cup ), of which 2 wins:
Austrian Championships
- Austrian champion in giant slalom and the slalom in 1973 and 1969 combined
Other successes
- Victory in the slalom the Arlberg Kandahar races in 1969
- Victory in the European Cup slalom of the season in Sterzing 1972/1973
- Three wins in FIS slalom in the season 1966/1967