Balthasar Niederkofler

Balthasar " Baldi " Niederkofler ( born November 10, 1906 in Zell am Ziller, † 11 April 1989 in Gries am Brenner ) was an Austrian cross-country skiers and ski official.

Niederkofler struck in the 1920s, a military career one in which he found good training opportunities, and stood in 1927 Boedele first time in a FIS cross-country skiing competition on the podium. His only victory in a FIS competition he celebrated in 1930 in Brixen im Thale. His greatest success as a player was winning the bronze medal with the 4x10 -kilometer relay at the Nordic World Ski Championships 1933. The team consisted addition Niederkofler, which ran in third position from Hugo Gstrein, Hermann Gadner and Harald paumgarten and ended up with more than eight minutes behind the dominant winner from Sweden. The distance to second place, the Czechoslovak team finished, on the other hand was only 17 seconds. For 66 years, until 1999, this medal was the only one in Austria for skiing. In individual over 18 kilometers, he finished 17th place. Then he took only rarely participate in larger competitions and by the outbreak of the Second World War, his career was ended for the time being.

After returning from French captivity in 1946 Niederkofler went to the customs police. Efforts to continue his athletic career were unsuccessful. After his career end Niederkofler worked for the Austrian Ski Federation ( Austrians ) and was thus involved in the organization of the Olympic Winter Games in 1964 in Innsbruck. When planning the biathlon competition, he represented the Austrians and thus was part of the three-member advisory team. He was also " Range Officer " and thus responsible for the implementation of this sub-discipline. He also served many years in the Tyrolean Ski Nordic marshal.