Anton Seelos
Anton " Toni" Seelos ( born March 4, 1911 in Seefeld in Tirol, † June 1, 2006 ) was an Austrian alpine skier and ski instructor. Seelos is four -times World Champion. In the 1930s, he was one of the most influential pioneers of alpine skiing. He fundamentally changed the slalom, in which he replaced the conventional stem turn with the parallel swing. His brother John was also a ski racer.
Career
After successes at youth level Seelos reach the first more significant victories in the winter of 1930. He won the slalom in the Seegrube, a departure in Matrei and the Bavarian Championships in Garmisch -Partenkirchen also the slalom. At the Arlberg - Kandahar race, he reached the second place in the combination.
In 1931, Seelos part in the first Alpine World Skiing Championships in Murren and won the slalom behind the Swiss David Zogg the silver medal. In addition, he finished 15th in the downhill and sixth place in the unofficial "Long exit". A year later he missed at the World Championships in Cortina d' Ampezzo just a medal, finishing fourth in the slalom, fifth in the combination and sixth in the downhill. A little later he won all the competitions at the Bavarian Championships in Garmisch. The final breakthrough of the world leaders succeeded Seelos at his " home World Cup " in 1933 in Innsbruck. With Laufbestzeiten in both rounds he won superior to his teammate Gustav Lantschner the gold medal in the slalom and tenth place in the exit he also won the combination. These services he briefly confirmed it when he won the slalom, the departure and the combination won at the German Championships - what then still no championship titles were awarded.
Due to the February 1934 fighting the Austrian Ski sent no team to the World Cup in St. Moritz, so could Seelos, like all other Austrians, do not participate in the competitions. But he was present as a supervisor of the German team and launched in slalom as precursors, where he promptly set the fastest time. In winter 1935, the Tyrolean the slalom and the combination won in the race for the Golden Ring in Seefeld and he participated in the World Cup 1935 in Mürren part. There he was able to repeat his success of two years ago, was for the second time slalom world champion and finished ninth in the downhill for the second time combination of world champion.
In the winter of 1936 Seelos won the slalom in Kitzbuhel and Seefeld. In advance of the Olympic Winter Games in 1936, he worked as a supervisor of the German team again. Due to the strict amateur rules, however, he was unable to participate in the Games as a ski instructor. So he started in slalom only as a precursor and was going much faster than the Olympic champion Franz Pfnür. When a short time later held World Championships in Innsbruck, he opted not to participate, but was in the slalom turn as a precursor at the start and again posted best time. In 1937, he became a successful coach of the French national ski team. In the season 1937/38, Seelos won in the race for the Golden Ring the slalom and the combination, slalom at the silver ball race and the downhill on Glungezer. At the World Cup 1938 in Engelberg, he finished only 15th place in the downhill, slalom, he gave in to a gate faults on.
After the war, Seelos was automatically as an active racer and in 1946 with third place in the Hahnenkamm downhill and slalom second combination. More podiums he scored at the races in Seefeld. Also in 1947 he succeeded in some good results. He was then to 1956 successfully coach of Austrian Ski Federation. By 1981, Seelos led in his hometown Seefeld ski school. According to him the Olympic Skiprungschanze is there named. Toni Seelos died on 1 June 2006 at the age of 95 in Seefeld.
Sporting successes
World Championships
- Murren 1931: 2nd slalom, downhill 15
- Cortina d' Ampezzo 1932: 4th Slalom, 5 combination, 6th departure
- Innsbruck 1933: 1 slalom, 1 combination, exit 10
- Murren 1935: 1 slalom, 1 combination, 9th departure
- Engelberg 1938: 15 Departure