Former Olympic champion Zimmermann dead at 80: Austrian Ski Association

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia await the start of the men's downhill race at the Alpine Skiing World Championships 2007 in Are

ZURICH (Reuters) - Former Alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist Egon Zimmermann has died at the age of 80, Austria's ski association said on Friday.

Zimmermann, born in the town of Lech in Austria, won the downhill gold medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

He had belonged to the Arlberg ski club and was an allrounder -- winning the World Cup gold medal in Giant Slalom during the 1962 competition in Chamonix -- whose favourite discipline was downhill.

The Austrian Ski Association said his death had became a "sad certainty" on Friday, without providing further details.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Toby Davis)