At the request of his parents, Semmelink's body remained in West Germany and he was buried at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His father stated, "My son loved the mountains above everything and he shall find his last rest here in the mountains." [10]
The annual John Semmelink Memorial Award was initiated by the Canadian Amateur Ski Association in November 1961 to recognize the athlete who, "through sportsmanship, conduct, and ability, best represents Canada in international competition." [11] The first recipient was alpine racer Anne Heggtveit of Ontario, Olympic gold medalist in the women's slalom in 1960. The award is made of granite from Mont Tremblant, "a mountain that he loved and skied so well on." [11] The Canadian Snowsports Association currently presents the award. [12]
During his final race, Semmelink wore a leather helmet, which was more protection than many racers used at the time. [13] The U.S. Ski Team first wore crash helmets at the 1956 Winter Olympics, [14] but most of the Europeans went without. [13] Following Semmelink's death, crash helmets became mandatory in the downhill event, beginning with the 1960 Winter Olympics. [13] [15]
Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | 19 | DSQ2 | 53 | not run | 31 | — |
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Jean-Claude Killy is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in 1967 and 1968.
Anne Heggtveit, is a former alpine ski racer from Canada. She was an Olympic gold medallist and double world champion in 1960.
Lucile Wheeler is a former alpine ski racer from Canada. She was a double world champion in 1958, the first North American to win a world title in the downhill event.
Kenneth John Read is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. He was a specialist in the downhill and a two-time Olympian. He won five World Cup races during his ten-year international career, all in downhill.
Wallace Jerold "Buddy" Werner was an American alpine ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Lindsey Caroline Vonn is an American World Cup alpine ski racer. She won four World Cup overall championships – third amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin – with three consecutive titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010, plus another in 2012. Vonn won the gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the first one for an American woman. She also won a record eight World Cup season titles in the downhill discipline, five titles in super-G, and three consecutive titles in the combined (2010–2012). In 2016, she won her 20th World Cup crystal globe title, the overall record for men or women, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who won 19 globes from 1975 to 1984. She has the third highest super ranking of all skiers, men or women.
Ulrike Maier was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria, a two-time World Champion in super-G. She competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Winter Olympics.
Karl Schranz is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria, one of the best of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Jean Vuarnet was an alpine ski racer from France. An Olympic gold medalist, he is known for inventing the "Tuck" skiing position.
Katharine Kreiner-Phillips is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Canada.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1978 were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, West Germany, between 29 January and 5 February. It held competitions in alpine skiing like downhill, special slalom, giant slalom and combined. The combined was only a "paper race".
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1954 were held in Åre, Sweden, from 28 February – 7 March.
W. James Riddell MBE was a British champion skier and author who was involved in the early days of skiing as a competitive sport and holiday industry. Like his near contemporary, Sir Arnold Lunn, he matched his adventurism on the slopes and knowledge of the Alpine countries with an elegant record of his times.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958 were held 1–9 February in Bad Gastein, Salzburg, Austria.
Leonardo David was a World Cup alpine ski racer from northwestern Italy.
The Arlberg-Kandahar race is an annual alpine skiing event. The first edition of the race was held in 1928 in St. Anton, in the Arlberg district of Austria. The location originally alternated between St. Anton and Mürren, Switzerland. Later, it began to be held in other locations as well, such as Chamonix, France, Sestriere, Italy, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
The Men's downhill competition of the 1960 Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Monday, February 22. The race was postponed from February 19, due to heavy snow fall.
The Women's downhill competition of the Squaw Valley 1960 Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Saturday, February 20.
John Downing Fripp was a Canadian skier and football player. He was a skier between 1927 and 1960 and played football in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) and Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) between 1941 and 1947. A centenarian, Fripp was believed to be the oldest former Canadian football player at the time of his death.
Kandahar is a classic World Cup downhill ski course in southern Germany. Located in Bavaria at the Garmisch Classic ski area on the Zugspitze above Garmisch-Partenkirchen, it opened 88 years ago in 1936.