Herbert Huber

Herbert Huber (4 December 1944 – 15 July 1970) was an Austrian alpine skier and Olympic medalist. He received a silver medal in the slalom at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble.[1]

For the German botanist, see Herbert Huber (botanist).

Herbert Huber

Medal record
Men’s alpine skiing
Representing  Austria
Olympic Games
	1968 Grenoble	Slalom

Huber won three World Cup races: the slalom race on 26 March 1967 at Jackson Hole, the giant slalom race on 31 March 1968 at Rossland, and the giant slalom race on 6 April 1968 at Heavenly Valley. Winning the silver medal in the 1968 Winter Olympics was overshadowed by the bickering in the matter of the disqualification of his teammate Karl Schranz.

He became twice Austrian Champion in the Slalom in 1966 and 1968.

He was sensory, therefore it happened that he didn't start in the slalom race in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships at Val Gardena on February 8th, 1970. A day before the race there was carried out a qualification race, and Huber could qualify with difficulty (by eliminating a racer from Romania, therefore such one who is known as an "exotic" in that sports). Huber seemed confused and ashamed after this (so it was told on the day of the actual race, and following his retirement the Austrian team could only start with three racers).

Huber's sensitivity was responsible for his suicide in his home village Kitzbühel in the summer of the same year. He was a baths attendant there when an English holiday maker was drowning. Though Huber was out of service he was taken that accident to heart.

References

1. "1968 Winter Olympics – Grenoble, France – Alpine Skiing" Archived 2007-08-19 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved on March 1, 2008)