Max Bolkart died at the age of 92. The Oberstdorfer was the best West German ski jumper in his time and was able to win the four -hill tour. He was known for his elegant jump style.
Bolkart was one of the best ski jumpers of his time and is considered one of the pioneers in the sport. He was the oldest still living winner of the four -hill tour. “It was now a redemption for him,” said his daughter Margret Bolkart-Fetz of the Allgäuer Zeitung. Her father recently suffered from severe dementia.
A talent for the ski jump was recognized early on at the young Bolkart. Toni Brutscher in particular, the best ski jumper of this time, recognized a lot of potential in the young Bolkart, convinced his father to promote the talent and later even gave him ski jumping ski when the young Max trained in the 1906 Ski club in 1906.
First West German winner of the Four -hillt tour
Did Brutscher trust his protégé this career? His first participation in the four -hill tour in 1954/55 brought Bolkart third place in Innsbruck. In 1956, Bolkart narrowly missed the podium at the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo. From 1956 to 1958 he won the German championship every year. His greatest career success was achieved in the winter of 1959/60. There Bolkart was the first West German Springer to win the four -hill tour – only in 1990 the second followed in Dieter Thoma.
Bolkart even stood in 1960 to Siegen in Oberstdorf, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck shortly before the Grand Slam. Because it “only” ranked fifth at the final in Bischofshofen, this feat only made Sven Hannawald 42 years later. “It is a nice feeling when your name appears again every year in the winning statistics,” Bolkart once told the world.
Elegant jumper with chesthoses and poodle hat
Pioneer Bolkart flew to further success with chesthosen, poodle hat and white mottels. He became a tour of the tour twice, in 1960 in Squaw Valley sixth. After the Olympic Winter Games in Tokyo in 1964, he ended his long career. However, it should not remain his last appearance at the Olympics: In Grenoble in 1968, it was the wish of Heini Klopfer, the architect of the ski jump that Bolkart jumps in. Because of his elegant jump style, the organizers invited him to the opening jump of the Olympic competition. For Bolkart, who jumped at a ski jump record of 105 m, it was “a big experience and a nice end”, as he later told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Bolkart was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his services in 1978. Many of his trophies are exhibited today in the Freiberg family hotel. There is also the pressure cooker that the ski jumping pioneer received in 1960 after his near-grand slam.
In the video: BR Retro – Ski jumping training In Ruhpolding with Max Bolkart
