Two-time Olympic downhill medalist Traudl Hecher dies at 79

Two-time Olympic downhill medalist Traudl Hecher, whose daughter Elisabeth Görgl also won bronze in the event four decades later, has died, the Austrian ski federation said Thursday. She was 79.

The federation said in a statement that Hecher died Tuesday in her hometown Schwaz. The cause of her death was not stated.

Hecher was just 16 when she took Olympic bronze in downhill at the 1960 Winter Games held in Squaw Valley, the Californian resort now called Palisades Tahoe.

She won another bronze four years later on home snow at Innsbruck.

At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Elisabeth Görgl continued the family tradition by taking bronze medals in downhill and giant slalom.

Görgl became a double world champion in downhill and super-G one year later at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. In downhill, Görgl edged defending champion Lindsey Vonn for victory.

Hechers son Stephan Görgl also represented Austria in Alpine skiing at the Olympics, at the 2006 Turin Winter games, and won two races on the World Cup circuit. AP BSBSBS

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