Franz Gabl ( German Franz X. Gabl , December 29, 1921 , St. Anton am Arlberg , Austria - January 23, 2014 , Bellingham , Washington , USA ) - Austrian skier , silver medalist of the Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz ( 1948 ).
 Franz Gabl | |||||||||||||||
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| Citizenship |  Austria | ||||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | December 29, 1921 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | St. Anton am Arlberg , Austria | ||||||||||||||
| Date of death | January 23, 2014 (92 years) | ||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Bellingham , WA , USA | ||||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||||
| Club | Ski Club Arlberg, Art. Christoph am Alberg (Austria) | ||||||||||||||
| Status | completed career | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | |||||||||||||||
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Sports career
He came to skiing after his elder brother Joseph, in his youth he achieved particular success in jumping from a springboard. In 1935 he became the champion of Tyrol, in 1936 he won the national youth championship. However, due to a serious injury, he was forced to give up jumping and focused on alpine disciplines. In 1940, interrupted his career, because he was called up for military service. He was wounded several times and returned to Austria in August 1945 after Soviet captivity.
Renewing his skiing career, he performed at the national level in the 1945/46 season, since Austrian athletes were forbidden to perform at the international. In 1947, in traditional competitions, Glokenrennen won slalom and became the second in giant slalom. At the Winter Olympics in 1948 in Swiss St. Moritz (1948) won the silver medal in the downhill, becoming at the same time the vice-champion of the world.
In 1949, he practically didn’t compete due to injury. In the 1950/51 season he won the winter combination in the Western Cup in Lech and in the Hans Schneider Cup in St. Anton. However, at the World Championship in Aspen (1950) did not cope with an unfamiliar track and could not finish.
At the end of the competition decided to stay in the United States, worked as a ski instructor. Soon he moved to Canada, preparing the women's team of this country for the Olympic Games in Oslo (1952), and four years later for the Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956) - the men's team. Then he became a successful businessman in the field of sales of ski equipment.