Ewald WALCH

Ewald Walch was part of a formidable doubles team with Manfred Schmid in the 1960s and 70s. Together Walch and Schmid won silver at the 1968 Winter Olympics, placing seventh in 1972. But Walch had not always ridden with Schmid, as he had a long international career in doubles, starting with a bronze medal at the first official World Championships in 1957 at Davos, sliding with non-Olympian Erich Raffl. Walch would win seven doubles medals at the World Championships, with various partners, winning golds in 1960 (Reinhold Frosch), and 1969-70 (Schmid); silvers in 1967/1971 (Schmid); and bronzes in 1957 (Raffl) and 1963 (Anton Venier). He and Schmid were Austrian Champions in 1969-70 and 1972-73. Walch won three medals at the European Championships – a gold in 1962 with Frosch, and silver in 1971 and bronze in 1970 with Schmid. In 1996 Walch was awarded the Silver Medal for Services to the Austrian Republic.