( CNN ) -- The relationship between sporting greats and great venues and events is often complicated . Usain Bolt thrives at the Olympics . But Sachin Tendulkar never scored a century at the home of cricket Lord 's while the clay courts at the French Open blunted the talent of tennis legend Pete Sampras . In downhill skiing , though , the man widely considered the best ever had few relationship issues with the mountain all in his sport want to conquer . Franz Klammer won five overall downhill World Cup titles . At one stage he was so dominant he won 11 races in a row . And at downhill 's most famous and feared slope , the Streif , on the Hahnenkamm mountain in Kitzbuhel , he came down the quickest four times . The Streif means strip or stripe . Its combination of blind turns and varying gradients make it the hardest and scariest out there . `` The first time when I came here and I saw the downhill I said : ' I 'm not doing this , these guys are crazy , they are just nuts ' , '' Klammer told CNN 's Alpine Edge . 'It is the most difficult and daring downhill on the whole circuit . That 's why its such a good race . If you are a good downhiller you 've got to win Kitzbuhel . '' By the sound of it , Austrian ace Klammer knows every nook and cranny of the course so well it is as if he could ski the course blind . `` You have no time to get into the race . `` If you compare it to Wengen , there you start with a few gentle turns . `` On the Streif you accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in just three seconds . '' And just five seconds after the start you hit the `` mousetrap '' , a blind jump where the racers pick their line from trees on the other side of the valley . `` The first time I did it I thought I could n't make it . I tried it and I was going very awkwardly and I did it and I thought wow ! And then it became my favorite part of the course , '' recalls Klammer . `` Then you have the Steilhang -- which translates as steep rock slope -- it 's the most difficult turn . It 's a left hanging turn which traverses a hill leaning the other way and you have to carry all your speed through it to the flat bit next . `` If you have no speed there you 're done . You can drink your beer half way down , '' adds Klammer with a chuckle . And well might he laugh . He did win here four times , a record only broken last year by Switzerland 's Didier Cuche . `` The first was very special because I had won all my races up to Kitzbuhel . It would be my fifth victory , which would tie the record for wins in one season . `` I had a crash in the training run , so was a little injured . Everything went wrong , but still I won the race , and went on to win the next and set a new record . '' For his first victory in 1975 he was the hot favorite . Not so in 1984 . `` I did n't win Kitzbuhel for seven years . I could n't believe it , this is my downhill and I could n't win it any more . What 's happened ? `` And then I was in the starting gate in 1984 and I knew I was going to win this race . No matter what . I was going for it . '' Klammer is back in Kitzbuhel where this weekend the latest generation tackle the slope which has staged races since 1931 . In a sport where the talk now is all of preparation , his advice is a little surprising . `` I know exactly where I want to ski but usually I am not where I want to ski ! `` The big thing you have to be able to do is improvise , not stick to your line . If you stick to your line , most likely you are going to be very slow . You just let it go . And then sometime you are 10 meters off your line and you just have to go on from there . '' It was this ability to think on his skis that secured his most famous non-Hahnenkamm victory at the Olympic Games in 1976 in front of a ecstatic home crowd in Innsbruck . He was the last man to go in the final and the hopes of a nation rested on his shoulders . `` Halfway down I looked at the crowd and they were cheering but not that enthusiastically , and I thought I better do something , better change something , otherwise I will not win the race . `` So I changed totally the line , and went all the way up to a fence on a big right hander . I had n't even inspected up there . I was skiing right on the edge . '' It seems the most famous races of them all really are won not beforehand , but in the 100-odd seconds it takes to get to the bottom .
Austrian skiing legend Franz Klammer was a Hahnenkaam specialist . He won four World Cup downhills on the famous but feared route . Klammer won four overall World Cup downhill ##s . His most famous victory came at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck .