Austrian skiing great Toni Sailer, who won 3 golds at 1956 Winter Olympics, dies at 73

VIENNA — Austrian skiing great Toni Sailer, who in 1956 became the first athlete to win all three alpine ski events at a Winter Olympics, has died. He was 73.

Sailer passed away Monday after a long illness, his Kitzbuehel Ski Club said in a statement Tuesday.

Sailer won gold in the downhill, slalom and giant slalom at the 1956 Cortina Olympics in Italy. He also won gold in the downhill, giant slalom and combined, as well as silver in the giant slalom, at the world championships in Bad Gastien, Austria two years later.

After retiring from competition in 1959, Sailer became a singer and an actor.

He was awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee in 1985.

“Toni did great things for Austria and for skiing as a sport,” Maier told APA.