BLACK. Austrian skiing mourns Waltraud “Traudl” Hecher. As the family announced, the Tyrolean died on Tuesday at the age of 80, the farewell will take place on January 20 in the Church of St. Barbara in Schwaz (3 p.m.).
In the 1960s, Hecher was one of the best and most successful alpine racers in the world, winning downhill bronze at the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley and 1964 in Innsbruck. With third place in the USA, the 16-year-old became the youngest alpine medalist in history at the time – she had just graduated from business school and started working as an office worker for her ski company in Hohenems.
Hecher, born on September 28, 1943 in Schwaz, won ten national championship titles, more than 50 international race victories – including the Kitzbühel downhill triumph and the Hahnenkamm title – are on her list of successes. In the years before, she had won the World Cup, in which she finished seventh in the first season in 1966/67, and in some cases superiorly. In 1967, Hecher surprisingly resigned at the age of only 24.
Image: OÖN
After her marriage to Toni Görgl, Traudl Hecher became a Styrian. With Elisabeth and Stephan Görgl, two of their three children – the third is son Andreas – have had successful skiing careers themselves. Stephan won two World Cup races, Elisabeth seven.
In addition, the Styrian, who was born in Bruck an der Mur like all Görgl children, became double world champion (downhill, super-G) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2011, after she won two Olympic bronze medals (downhill, giant slalom) in Vancouver in 2010 like her mother once did would have.
On Schwaz’s local mountain, the Arbeser, one can still remember what was once owned by the family “hecher house” to the most famous sportswoman in town. Photos and utensils can also be viewed there. Hecher returned to her hometown of Schwaz seven years ago.
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Source: Nachrichten
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
