Toni Sailer Redux
The #MeToo movement recently led Der Standard to re-visit a well-known scandal that happened about the same time that Spiess-Werdennig was molested. The newspaper revealed how, in 1974, the Austrian government intervened to extricate from Poland the nation’s iconic champion, Olympic triple gold medalist Toni Sailer (d. 2009), after he was charged in a notorious rape case.
At the time, Sailer was the head coach of the Austrian alpine team and was in Zakopane for a World Cup race. He became entangled in a drunken episode in a hotel room with two Yugoslav ski servicemen. A part-time prostitute was violently raped. The Austrian government prevailed on Poland to get Sailer out of the country before he was jailed. Sailer claimed he was set up.
Sporthistoriker Müllner: "Das verändert das Bild, das ist nicht angenehm, aber es ist so"
Rudolf Müllner bezeichnet Toni Sailer als tragende Figur im österreichischen Nationalepos. Der Akt zum Vorfall in Zakopane schaffe durch die aktuelle Diskussion über Missbrauch im Sport eine neue Situation. Eine saubere Aufarbeitung werde das Land gut aushalten
www.derstandard.at
