It was a long Thursday for that part of the Strolz family who stayed at home in Warth. “So much went through my head, it’s unbelievable,” said the 1988 Olympic champion on Thursday morning.
34 years ago, Hubert Strolz was almost hopelessly behind the Swiss Pirmin Zurbriggen in Nakiska, Canada. The fifth downhill rider is 1.51 seconds behind the Valaisian’s best time. And after the first slalom run, the gap had even increased – but then Zurbriggen intervened and Strolz won ahead of his compatriot Bernhard Gstrein and Paul Accola (SUI).
It was to be Hubert Strolz’s season: Nine days after his triumph, the Vorarlberg man took silver in the giant slalom, finished the winter third in the overall World Cup and also won the giant slalom ranking.