Skiing Legend Lang Dies

Frenchman Serge Lang, who created the skiing World Cup, is dead of a heart attack. He was 79.

The International Ski Federation said today that Lang died Sunday night in Sternerberg, in eastern France.

"It's very sad for me and the sport," FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper said after receiving the news from Lang's son, Patrick. "We worked very closely for 25 years, and it will leave a void."

A journalist who once worked for the French daily L'Equipe as well as the Swiss tabloid Blick, Lang had a love for sport and a passion for cycling he was planning to cover his 50th Tour de France next year.

Lang realized skiing had the same potential as cycling if given the same stage.

He hatched his plan for a World Cup circuit with TV commentator and former head of the U.S. ski team Bob Beattie at the 1996 World Championships in Portillo, Chile.

A giant of a man with a booming voice and an overwhelming presence, Lang revolutionized the sport of skiing, opening up new markets around the globe, including Russia, North America and Scandinavia, and continued to influence the sport long after his retirement. He ruled the World Cup committee for 13 years.

But after taking the sport to unexpected heights, Lang was ousted from the World Cup committee's presidency in 1986 by those unhappy with his authoritarian manner.

"He was a man of 10,000 ideas," Kasper said. "We had thousands of fights but that was typical with Serge."

"Serge had a new idea every two minutes. Some were realistic and great. Some were not."

Lang was responsible for adding the super-G to the sport's curriculum and also was a moving force in the fight for improved safety, as well as cash prizes for the racers.

He also authored the Biorama, an annual book of biographies and World Cup statistics. Lang also founded the Association of International Ski Journalists.

More recently, he developed the Legends circuit for veterans, which is still a struggling enterprise.

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