Facts: - olympicteams: 2 -- -lrb- 1976 , '' 1980 '' -rrb- - olympicmedals: 0 - disciplines: downhill - wctitles: 0 1978 -rrb- '' -- '' -lrb- 2nd dh : 1977 , - wcpodiums: 13 -- -lrb- 13 dh -rrb- - birth date: 8 december 1954 - wcoveralls: 0 -- '' -lrb- 7th in 1978 -rrb- '' - caption: walcher in december 1977 - height: 1.78 - death date: 22 january 1984 - retired: march 1982 -lrb- age 27 -rrb- - name: josef '' sepp '' walcher - death place: schladming , styria , austria - birth place: schladming , styria , austria - worldsmedals: 1 - image size: 220 - worldsgolds: 1 - worldsteams: 3 '' -rrb- -- -lrb- 1976 , 1978 , '' 1980 - wcwins: 5 -- -lrb- 5 dh -rrb- - wcseasons: 10 -- -lrb- 1973 -- 1982 -rrb- - wcdebut: december 1972 -lrb- age 18 -rrb- - image: walcher sepp 003.jpg Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of josef walcher .
josef '' sepp '' walcher -lrb- december 8 , 1954 -- january 22 , 1984 -rrb- was an austrian world cup alpine ski racer .he specialized in the downhill event and won the gold medal at the world championships in 1978 at garmisch , west germany .born in schladming , styria , walcher made his world cup debut in december 1972 , two days after his 18th birthday .two months later , he scored his first world cup points -lrb- and podium -rrb- with a runner-up finish at st. moritz , switzerland .walcher 's first world cup victory came in january 1977 at morzine , france , his seventh podium .his best two seasons were 1977 and 1978 , finishing runner-up to compatriot franz klammer in the downhill standings both years .a week prior to his win at the world championships in 1978 , walcher won consecutive downhills at kitzbuhel , austria .walcher retired after the 1982 season with five world cup victories and thirteen podium finishes .two years later , he was killed at age 29 in a skiing accident in a benefit race in 1984 at his hometown of schladming .