Downhill Charly Kahr - Austrian ski coach

Charly Kahr, who coached a generation of Austrian downhillers to World Cup success, died April 27, 2024 at age 91.

Born in Schladming, Kahr began racing at age 10 and turned to coaching at age 25, after his fifth broken leg. He coached in Styria, then, from 1970 to 1972, coached the British women’s team. Toni Sailer hired him in 1972 as downhill coach for Austria. His athletes included Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Franz Klammer, Olga Pall, Christl Haas, Peter Wirnsberger, Hans Enn, Anton Steiner, David Zwilling, Hansi Hinterseer, Josef Walcher, Werner Grissmann, Harti Weirather, Erwin Resch, Ernst Riedelsberger and Robert Zoller. Under Kahr's supervision, Austrian downhillers won seven Olympic and 13 World Championship medals. He retired in 1983.

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement era, both Kahr and Sailer (who died in 2009) were accused of sexually assaulting female athletes, dating back to the 1960s and '70s. Criminal charges were dropped because the statute of limitations had run out, and Kahr himself dropped lawsuits for defamation.