The Austrian ski jumping coaching legend, Baldur Preiml, is no longer alive. He died on Monday at the age of 85 in Spittal/Drau, as first reported by the "Salzburger Nachrichten".
The Olympic bronze medalist from 1968 initially led the Austrian Ski Federation team, including Toni Innauer, Karl Schnabl, Willi Pürstl and Co., to great heights in the 1970s, first at the Stams ski high school, then as a coach. Thanks to his innovative training methods, Austria became the leading ski jumping nation.
From 1987 to 1991, Preiml was also head of the sports department in the Federal Ministry of Education, Art and Sport and was subsequently in demand as an expert on healthy living and exercise. He followed ski jumping until the end. In an interview, he once said: "Flying has something to do with being free and it is a basic human need to be free." He added: "When you are as close to the sport as I was, you fly along and feel liberated."
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article .