Like father, like son: Johannes Strolz wins Olympic gold 34 years after dad

Just like his father did more than three decades ago, Austrian skier Johannes Strolz on Thursday won Olympic gold in the Alpine combined race.

Until almost a month ago, Strolz was not even part of Austria’s hugely competitive Olympic team and, having lost his funding last year, had been working as a police officer to supplement his income, driving a patrol car and controlling traffic.

The 29-year-old, who has won only one World Cup slalom, was fourth fastest after the downhill run on Thursday. But he was half a second quicker than anyone else in the slalom, helping him edge the first-run leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway by 0.58 seconds. The combined adds the times from one downhill run and one slalom run.

Strolz’s father, Hubert, won gold in combined at the 1988 Calgary Games. Hubert Strolz also won silver in the giant slalom that year and almost won another Olympic combined four years later but missed a gate near the end of the second run and was disqualified.

“It’s really a great moment for me and I’m so thankful that I finally can live my dream and have this gold medal in my hands like my father did in 1988 in Calgary and, yeah, just a dream come true,” Strolz said. “The gold medal really means the world to me.”

Strolz and his dad are the first father-son duo to clinch Olympic gold in the same Alpine skiing event.

Strolz had a career-best finish of 10th in more than eight years of World Cup racing before winning last month in Adelboden. That victory earned him a spot on the team for the Beijing Games, where he is continuing to prepare his own slalom skis — as he has done all season. A member of the team prepares Strolz’s downhill skis – which he borrowed from Austria’s Super-G gold medallist Matthias Mayer.

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