34 years after his father Hubert’s gold medal, the small Walser community on the Arlberg is celebrating another Olympic victory, and in the same discipline at that. “It’s a really incredible story,” said an overwhelmed Hubert Strolz on Thursday. “The whole of Warth was in front of the television at three in the morning and shared the excitement,” reported Mayor Stefan Strolz.
The pride in the son, who never gave up despite all the odds, can be heard in the parents’ phone call to the APA. “It was very exciting. After the descent we knew he just had to come down, then he has a chance of a medal – and that he then drove so freely! I’m incredibly happy for Johannes because he didn’t give up and is now rewarded for his endurance. He has such an athlete’s heart, he really loves skiing with body and soul,” says father Hubert Strolz, who competed at the Olympics three times and won gold in 1988 in the combination. Today he is a hotelier and mountain farmer. “I told Johannes before: Enjoy it! Olympics is the greatest event in the life of an athlete. When you realize it – you’re an Olympic champion for life,” says Hubert Strolz, who has only been able to telephone his son for a short time.
Mayor Strolz: “A historic, crazy day”
“We’re totally over the moon! My husband and my daughter got up for the descent – I didn’t have the courage. I only got there when he was healthy at the finish. We all saw the slalom together. We all thought about it believed. He worked so hard, fought so hard and he was often sad. You suffer with that. It’s just overwhelming,” says mother Birgit Strolz. Since the son’s gold trip, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing with the Strolz family, and acquaintances and friends keep coming to say congratulations. It’s a happy day for Warth, even the glorious weather suits the occasion.
“It’s a historic, crazy day,” commented Mayor Stefan Strolz on his grandnephew’s victory. “After the bomb descent, we knew he was fighting for the medals. For us as a tourism community, it’s crazy,” says the local manager, who wants to celebrate the new Olympic champion with a big party, “when all the hustle and bustle is over.” . “We’re still waiting for the slalom medal, there’s still room in his showcase. And then we’ll show Johannes how proud Warth is of him. What he’s achieved with his own initiative and his own ski preparation! We have as his main sponsor always stood by him. We are Walsers and they stick together,” says Strolz.
Since Thursday, Warth is likely to be the village with the highest density of Olympic medal winners. In addition to father and son Strolz, Wiltrud Drexel, who won Olympic bronze in the giant slalom in 1972, also lives in the village with only 174 inhabitants.
Source: Nachrichten
