| Josef "Sepp" Walcher | |
| Disciplines: | Downhill |
| Birth Date: | 8 December 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Schladming, Styria, Austria |
| Death Place: | Schladming, Styria, Austria |
| Height: | 178 cm |
| Wcdebut: | December 1972 (age 18) |
| Retired: | March 1982 (age 27) |
| Olympicteams: | 2 – (1976, 1980) |
| Olympicmedals: | 0 |
| Worldsteams: | 3 – (1976, 1978, 1980) |
| Worldsmedals: | 1 |
| Worldsgolds: | 1 |
| Wcseasons: | 10 – (1973–1982) |
| Wcwins: | 5 – (5 DH) |
| Wcpodiums: | 13 – (13 DH) |
| Wcoveralls: | 0 – (7th in 1978) |
| Wctitles: | 0 – (2nd DH: 1977, 1978) |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Josef "Sepp" Walcher (December 8, 1954 – January 22, 1984) was an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. He specialized in the downhill event and won the gold medal at the World Championships in 1978 at Garmisch, West Germany.[1] [2]
Born in Schladming, Styria, Walcher made his World Cup debut in December 1972, two days after his 18th birthday. Two months later, he scored his first World Cup points (and podium) with a runner-up finish at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Walcher's first World Cup victory came in January 1977 at Morzine, France, his seventh podium.[3] [4] His best two seasons were 1977 and 1978, finishing runner-up to compatriot Franz Klammer in the downhill standings both years. A week prior to his win at the world championships in 1978, Walcher won consecutive downhills at Kitzbühel, Austria.[5] [6]
Walcher retired after the 1982 season with five World Cup victories and thirteen podium finishes. Two years later, he was killed at age 29 in a skiing accident in a benefit race in 1984 at his hometown of Schladming, the race was a 8 km downhill where the skiers started only 30 second one from the each other.[7]
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 28 | — | — | not run | 11 | not awarded | |
| 19 | 29 | — | — | 11 | |||
| 20 | 23 | — | — | 12 | |||
| 21 | 30 | — | — | 13 | — | ||
| 22 | 8 | — | — | 2 | not awarded | ||
| 23 | 7 | — | — | 2 | |||
| 24 | 39 | — | — | 13 | |||
| 25 | 22 | — | — | 7 | — | ||
| 26 | 41 | — | — | 14 | — | ||
| 27 | 50 | — | — | 18 | — |
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 11 Feb 1973 | 2nd | |||
| 1974 | 18 Dec 1973 | Downhill | 3rd | ||
| 1975 | 5 Jan 1975 | Downhill | 3rd | ||
| 1976 | 25 Jan 1976 |  Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | 3rd | |
| 1977 | 18 Dec 1976 | Downhill | 2nd | ||
| 30 Jan 1977 | Downhill | 2nd | |||
| align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6" | 31 Jan 1977 | Downhill | 1st | ||
| align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6" | 12 Mar 1977 | Downhill | 1st | ||
| 1978 | 11 Dec 1977 |  Val d'Isère, France | Downhill | 3rd | |
| align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6" | 20 Jan 1978 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | 1st | |
| align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6" | 21 Jan 1978 | Downhill[8] | 1st | ||
| 1979 | align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6" | 16 Dec 1978 |  Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill | 1st |
| 1980 | 18 Jan 1980 | Wengen, Switzerland | Downhill | 2nd |
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | not run | — | |||||
| 23 | — | 27 | 1 | — | |||
| 25 | — ^ | — | |||||
| 27 | — | — | — | — (missed team)--> |
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | not run | not run | ||||
| 25 | — ^ |