Pirmin Zurbriggen suffered more for a medal than for Olympic bronze in the giant slalom in Calgary. Between runs, he had to watch as a person was run over by a snow groomer.
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- Pirmin Zurbriggen likes to talk about the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary. With the exception of the tragedy that he and his colleague Martin Hangl had to watch between the first and second run of the giant slalom.
- On the chairlift ride to the start, the two ski stars had to watch as a man was run over by a snow groomer.
- "It was a really tough, difficult moment when that happens in front of you. It still affects me today," says Zurbriggen. Hangl suffered a collapse at the time and was unable to start. Zurbriggen went on to win the bronze medal. No wonder this bronze shines like gold for the ski star.
Pirmin Zurbriggen's career may be bursting with victories, medals, crystal globes, fame and glory - but the 63-year-old Valais ski idol has also experienced moments of sadness. He talks about one of them in the talk "Legends for eternity". He is reluctant to do so, because he would love to repress those hours and forget them forever. But he tells it anyway - and impressively so.
It was before the second run of the 1988 Calgary Olympic giant slalom when Zurbriggen and his Swiss team-mate Martin Hangl took the chairlift up to the start house. When they looked down at some point, they saw and heard a man being hit by a snowcat and fatally injured. The man died at the scene of the accident.
Zurbriggen and Hangl had witnessed the accident first-hand - and were in shock. "It was a really tough, difficult moment when it happens in front of you. It still affects me today," Zurbriggen describes the moment. And after a pause, he says: "You're on the verge of losing everything."
Teammate Hangl collapsed
Hangl can't take it. He collapses in the start house. "Martin suffered a collapse, he was so badly affected. The doctors rushed over immediately because they feared something worse." Hangl, 21st in the first run, then decided not to take part in the second run.
Zurbriggen himself somehow managed to process or block out the shock. "I benefited from the fact that I had experience with emergencies. That's why I was able to get through the moment. But it was damn difficult and brutal."
The man from Valais got back into race mode and fought his way up from fourth to third place - Italian Alberto Tomba won gold in superior style. "There's no recipe for overcoming a situation like this," says Zurbriggen, who literally had to suffer through his bronze medal. This is another reason why it is at least as valuable to him as the gold in the downhill, Zurbriggen continues. "Gold and bronze in Calgary look almost identical and mean the same to me."
