Throwback Thursday: Malcolm Smith at the ISDT (1969)

Larry Lawrence | August 29, 2024

Malcolm was One of Two Americans to Earn Gold in the International Competition

In this week’s Throwback we hop in the Wayback Machine, dial in September of 1969, and land in the scenic environs of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, in what was then West Germany. This 55-year-old photo shows the legendary Malcolm Smith (191) starting a stage in that’s year’s event aboard a Husqvarna, alongside Jawa rider Hein van Rijssel (193) of Holland. Smith went on that year to be one of just two Americans to earn a Gold Medal (the other being Billy Uhl). Smith was the top scoring American. In all the Yanks earned 16 coveted medals. In addition to the pair of Golds, they earned nine Silver and five Bronze. It was the best showing of an American squad to that point in the ISDT.

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