Grenoble, 12 February 1968, X Olympic Winter Games. Men's giant slalom in Chamrousse: Frenchman Jean-Claude KILLY, 1st, in action. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum CollectionsBorn: 30 August 1943
Birthplace: Saint-Cloud (France)
Nationality: France
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Innsbruck 1964
Grenoble 1968
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 3
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 2 (66)
Alpine Sweep of 1968
After he won 12 of 16 World Cup races during the 1966-1967 season, French sports fans hoped that Jean-Claude Killy would sweep all three Alpine skiing events when the Winter Olympics were staged in France in 1968. Killy began by winning the downhill, slashing across the finish line a mere eight hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Guy Périllat.
For the first time, the giant slalom contest was decided by a combination of two runs rather than a single run. Killy won easily by more than two seconds. All that remained for him to complete the Alpine sweep was the slalom.
Killy recorded the fastest time of the first run. His second run was strong enough to keep him in the lead until the turn of his closest rival, Karl Schranz.
But as Schranz sped through the fog, something curious happened. Schranz claimed that a mysterious figure crossed his path. He skidded to a halt and was granted a rerun. Schranz beat Killy's time and was declared the winner. But a Jury of Appeal disqualified Schranz and awarded the victory to Killy. Killy later served as co-president of the organizing committee of the 1992 Albertville Olympics.
