Gustav Thöni

ORF chief director Michael Kögler met the legend again 30 years after his multi-award-winning documentary “Die Franz Klammer Story”. Never-before-broadcast material from the ORF archives provides deep insights into the career and life of the most successful downhill skier in alpine skiing history.

Portrait of the Austrian skier Franz Klammer.

“La Valanga Azzurra” traces the unparalleled journey of the Italian national alpine skiing team of the 1970s, led by the legendary coach Mario Cotelli and spearheaded by champions like Gustav Thöni and Piero Gros. Through victories that rewrote the history of Italian sports, such as the conquest of five World Cups and numerous medals across the Olympics and World Championships, the documentary celebrates internal rivalries, contrasting personalities, and the sacrifices that made this team invincible. The previously unseen testimonies of the protagonists, intertwined with the narration of Giovanni Veronesi, who, in this context, reveals his past as an aspiring champion, bring to life the unique saga of a sporting cyclone, from its glorious beginnings to its inevitable decline.