70th Birthday - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2008 - 65 Euro Cent

Karl Schranz - his name is almost synonymous with Austrian skiing. What is today a Benjamin Raich or a Hermann Maier, that was in the sixties and early seventies Karl Schranz: Schiheld a nation. Born on 18 November 1938 in one of the most beautiful winter sports regions in Austria, in St. Anton am Arlberg, Schranz started to compete in sports at an early age. In the course of his international career, he won no less than three world titles, twice won the overall World Cup and a silver medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Speaking of Olympics: As Karl Schranz just before the start of the winter games of Sapporo (1972) by the then IOC President Avery Brundage was excluded because of an alleged violation of the then applicable amateur rules, boiled in the truest sense of the word, the Austrian soul. When Schranz returned to Vienna, about one hundred thousand people prepared a heroic reception on the Vienna Heroes' Square. The then Chancellor Bruno Kreisky even invited him to the Chancellor's Office, where he welcomed the frenetically applauding crowd from the balcony - "martyr-like" images that went through the world press, and moments that anchor the fame of Karl Schranz to this day. (Incidentally, years later, the popular athlete was to a certain extent rehabilitated. In a solemn ceremony, Schranz was awarded an Olympic medal by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, which was an afterthought by the IOC.) As a successful hotelier, Schranz is still a ski sport Closely connected - and that the Alpine World Ski Championships 2001 took place in his hometown of St. Anton, is largely due to its international influence. The threefold athlete of the year (1959, 1962 and 1970) is also the bearer of the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria. Now, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, Österreichische Post AG honors this exceptional athlete with his own special stamp.