Serge Lang (skiing)
Serge Lang | |
---|---|
Born | June 6, 1920 Mulhouse, France |
Died | November 21, 1999 Sternenberg, Haut-Rhin, France |
Occupation | Journalist |
Nationality | French |
Subject | Alpine skiing, cycling |
Serge Lang (June 6, 1920 – November 21, 1999) was a French
Biography
Early years
Jean-Jacques "Serge" Lang was born in June 1920 in
During
The birth of the World Cup
In the mid-1960s, he had the idea for a season-long series of ski races with a points system to determine a champion after being requested by former Tour de France and sportspaper L'Équipe director Jacques Goddet to "invent somethings which would help our readers to better understand ski racing alpine circuit". A few months earlier, Lang had attended the very successful 'Nations Team Event' at Vail, Colorado, where the three best teams of the 1964 Olympics at Innsbruck had been invited by former US Alpine Director Bob Beattie to enter a newly launched team competition. It was such an exciting event that Serge Lang was convinced afterwards it was time to greatly enlarge the horizon of alpine ski racing mostly limited to central Europe during the winter season. In December 1965, L'Équipe launched the first (unofficial) European ski circuit named "Trophée de L'Equipe", which was won by France's
That same summer, the ski
The first (still unofficial) World Cup season began next winter with the men's competitions at Berchtesgaden, Germany, on January 5, 1967. The first overall winners at the end of that season were
Later years
The alpine skiing World Cup soon became a huge success with ski racing fans, racers, organizers and ski suppliers. Lang continued to guide its growth over the following decades, serving as president of the
Wife
Serge Lang was married from 1944 to 1989 to German-born journalist Anneliese Lang, who strongly supported him at the beginning of his career. Anneliese Lang was a film critic and met Lang at Basel during the War while reporting on "Le Bon Film" festival for a German newspaper. After returning to Berlin, she fled Germany after finding out she was wanted by the Gestapo. She returned to Basel after jumping from her train while approaching the station. She died from cancer in 1989.
Books by Serge Lang
- Lang, Serge (1967) Le ski: et autres sports d'hiver Larousse OCLC 15183297
- Lang, Serge; Baumann, Erich & Dieter; Stellwaag, Jochen (1980) Le grand livre du Tour de France Paris: Calmann-Lévy ISBN 9782702103647
- Lang, Serge (1986). 21 Years of World Cup Ski Racing. Johnson Books / James Wotton. ISBN 0-246-13116-0.
References
- OCLC 871198711.
- Lang, Serge. "The Creation of the World Cup". Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
- Downes, Steven (1999-11-25). "Obituary: Serge Lang". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2007-02-23.