The “KitzCharityTrophy” and the Hahnenkamm weekend are an inseparable unit. At the 25th edition, which took place on Saturday following the Hahnenkamm downhill run, celebrities with a wide variety of skiing skills once once more threw themselves down the finish slope of the Streif. The end justified the means: 300,000 euros were put into the pockets of mountain farming families in Tyrol and South Tyrol who were in need. These celebrities were there:
Photo gallery: Celebrities waved in Kitzbühel for a good cause
(Foto: GEPA pictures/ Mario Buehner-Weinrauch) Bild 1/52
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Bernie Ecclestone was the race director. However, the now 93-year-old British ex-Formula 1 Zampano and multi-billionaire did not take the checkered flag as he had done for many years, but instead left this task to several “successors”. Instead, he expertly – a completely confident race director – kept an overall overview of the slopes, skiing skills, times and placings. In this role, he appeared to be humorous at the beginning and complained regarding “delay, delay, delay” because the race started slightly late.
A little later, he had already officially released the same thing, fully in office, so that DJ Ötzi might get off to a more leisurely start as the first runner in “Pizzaschnitte”, i.e. in the snow plow. He refrained from the singing interludes that would actually be expected following the weaving work was done. Her singing colleague Melissa Naschenweng with start number 62 later had significantly better skiing skills. She then also had a singing event: she sang her “Bergbauernbua” song. The team of the Carinthian shooting star ultimately won.
Overall, neither skiing nor singing skills were really the focus, because ultimately the actual placement was decided with the help of a dice. It was simply regarding a good cause and the joy of it. For those in action, for example, without claiming to be exhaustive: A large number of ex-ski aces such as Franz Klemm, Harti Weirather, Hannes Reichelt, Armin Assinger, Stephan Eberharter, Fritz Strobl, Rainer Schönfelder, Didier Cuche and Benni Raich, ex-Formula 1 -Hero Sebastian Vettel or the Tik Tok stars “Elevator Boys”. Austria’s Formula 1 legend and Tyrolean local hero Gerhard Berger was also present, although not on skis: he had suffered an injury beforehand and therefore took on the role of patron.
The high Hollywood elite also strapped in – in the person of the German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender, certainly not a Kitzbühel regular. Former ski ace and motorsportsman Luc Alphand also had a blast for a good cause. As did two star relatives who followed the charity call: Bernie Ecclestone’s wife, Fabiana, and Lisa-Marie Friedle, DJ Ötzi’s daughter.
By the way, one of the “Tik Tok boys” chose a different “mode of transport”, namely a snowboard. In general, the ski was not set in stone; several ski bobs were also seen as an alternative and were permitted. The East Tyrolean professional cyclist Fabio Wibmer even preferred the bike. Former Formula 1 star Jean Alesi might also have thought regarding a ski alternative, as he fell on the way. Pros and cons with regard to an associated disqualification under Ecclestone’s chairmanship went in the direction of con. Alesi continued the journey. Entirely in the service of a good cause, to which one might sometimes turn a blind eye.
