 Jean-Claude Killy in Moscow in May 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1943-08-30)30 August 1943 (age 81) Saint-Cloud,Seine-et-Oise, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill,giant slalom,slalom,combined | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | January1967 (age 23) inaugural season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | April1968 (age 24) (World Cup) - November 1972 (age 29) Again from 1976 (World Pro Ski Tour) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 –(1964,1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 3 (3 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 –(1962,1964,1966,1968) includes two Olympics (injured in 1962) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 6 (6 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 2 –(1967,1968) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 18 – (6DH, 7GS, 5SL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 24 – (8DH, 9GS, 7SL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 2 –(1967,'68) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 4 – (1DH, 2GS, 1SL) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French formerWorld Cupalpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in1967 and1968.
Killy was born inSaint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris, during theGerman occupation of World War II, but was brought up inVal-d'Isère in the Alps, where his family had relocated in 1945 following the war. His father, Robert, was a formerSpitfire pilot for theFree French, and opened a ski shop in theSavoie village, and would later operate a hotel. In 1950, his mother Madeline abandoned the family for another man, leaving Robert to raise Jean-Claude, age 7, his older sister (France), and their infant brother (Mic). Jean-Claude was sent to boarding school in Chambéry, 80 miles (130 km) down the valley, but he despised being shut up in a classroom.[1]
Killy turned his attention to skiing rather than school. His father allowed him to drop out at age 15, and he made the French national junior team a year later. As a young racer, Killy was fast, but did not usually complete his races, and the early 1960s were not entirely successful for him.[1]
In December 1961, at age 18, Killy won his first international race, a giant slalom. The event took place in his home village of Val-d'Isère. Killy had started 39th, a position that should have been a severe disadvantage.[1]
The French coach picked Killy for thegiant slalom in the1962 World Championships inChamonix, France, 50 miles (80 km) away in the shadow ofMont Blanc. But Killy, unaware of his selection, was still attempting to qualify for thedownhill event in northeastern Italy atCortina d'Ampezzo. Only three weeks before the world championships, he skied in his typical reckless style. About two hundred yards (180 m) from the finish, Killy hit a stretch of ice in a compression and went down, rose immediately, then crossed the finish on just one ski—and the fastest time. Unfortunately, his other leg was broken, and he watched the1962 World Championships on crutches.[1]
Two years later, at age 20, Killy was entered in all three of the men's events at the1964 Olympics, because his coach wanted to prepare him for1968. Unfortunately, Killy was plagued by recurrences of amoebicdysentery andhepatitis, ailments that he had contracted in 1962 during a summer of compulsory service with theFrench Army in Algeria. His form was definitely off, and he fell a few yards after the start of the downhill, lost a binding in the slalom, and finished fifth in the giant slalom, in which he had been the heavy favorite.[1] Yet a few weeks later, he dominated a giant slalom race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, counting for the prestigious Arlberg-Kandahar events, the oldest 'classic' in the sport. A year later, he also triumphed at another major competition, the slalom of the Hahnenkamm races at Kitzbühel that he clinched three times in a row until 1967.
Although the first half of the decade was a relative disappointment, Killy began to strongly improve his results afterwards to become one of the best technical ski racers. In August 1966, the Frenchman, nicknamed 'Toutoune' by some of his colleagues and friends, scored his first win in adownhill race against an international field at the1966 World Championships inPortillo, Chile, and also took gold in thecombined. Killy was peaking as the firstWorld Cup season was launched in January1967, with the1968 Winter Olympics in France only a year away.
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 1 | not run | 1 | not awarded |
| 1968 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1967 | Overall |
| Downhill | |
| Giant slalom | |
| Slalom | |
| 1968 | Overall |
| Giant slalom |
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 9 Jan 1967 |  Adelboden,Switzerland | Giant slalom |
| 14 Jan 1967 | Wengen, Switzerland | Downhill | |
| 15 Jan 1967 | Slalom | ||
| 21 Jan 1967 |  Kitzbühel,Austria | Downhill | |
| 22 Jan 1967 | Slalom | ||
| 27 Jan 1967 |  Megève,France | Downhill | |
| 3 Mar 1967 |  Sestriere,Italy | Downhill | |
| 10 Mar 1967 |  Franconia,NH,USA | Downhill | |
| 11 Mar 1967 | Slalom | ||
| 12 Mar 1967 | Giant slalom | ||
| 19 Mar 1967 | Vail,CO, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 25 Mar 1967 | Jackson,WY, USA | Giant slalom | |
| 1968 | 8 Jan 1968 | Adelboden, Switzerland | Giant slalom |
| 9 Feb 1968 | Grenoble, France 1968 Winter Olympics ^ | Downhill | |
| 12 Feb 1968 | Giant slalom | ||
| 17 Feb 1968 | Slalom | ||
| 10 Mar 1968 | Méribel, France | Giant slalom | |
| 29 Mar 1968 |  Rossland,BC, Canada | Slalom |
^Results from the1968 Winter Olympics (and1970 World Championships) were included in theWorld Cup standings.
Killy was the firstWorld Cup champion in1967, winning 12 of 17 races to easily take the overall title. He also won the season standings in each of the three "classic" alpine disciplines; he won all five of the downhill races and four of the five giant slalom races.
The following year, Killy won thetriple crown of alpine skiing with a sweep of all three Olympic gold medals (downhill,giant slalom, andslalom)in controversial circumstances at the1968 Winter Olympics inGrenoble, France. By finishing first in all races, he also captured the FISworld championship title in thecombined event.
Electrical timing by Omega was accurate to one-hundredth of a second. Killy relied on his upper-body strength to hit the bar while already moving forward, giving himself a slight edge. This spectacular start appears to have helped him to beat his teammate Guy Perillat by a few hundredths in the Olympic downhill.
With the Olympic events included (for the only time) in the World Cup standings, Killy easily defended his title in1968 as the overall champion, placing first in the giant slalom and second in the downhill and slalom season standings. He retired following the 1968 season, and moved toGeneva, Switzerland, in 1969.
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 18 | — | — | not run | — | — |
| 1964 | 20 | DNF1 | 5 | 42 | — | |
| 1966 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
From1948 through1980, theWinter Olympics were also theWorld Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
1962: injured
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 20 | DNF1 | 5 | not run | 42 | not run |
| 1968 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Killy's success in Grenoble could not have come at a more opportune time for him: the 1968 Winter Olympics were the first to be extensively televised, in color, by theAmerican Broadcasting Company. His all-conquering success, combined with his Gallic flair and looks, made him an overnight celebrity in the United States, especially amongst young women. In May 1968, Killy signed withInternational Management Group, the sports management firm headed byMark McCormack. After racing on Dynamic VR17 andRossignol skis during the part of his career when he was dominant, Killy signed a deal withHead Ski in the fall 1968 to endorse a metal andfiberglass ski named for him, theKilly 800.[2][3] Head, which was acquired byAMF the following year, manufactured a line of Killy skis for at least two years.
In April 1969, he was awarded theHelms World Trophy.[4]
In television advertisements, Killy promoted theAmerican Express card. He also became aspokesman forSchwinn bicycles,United Airlines, andChevrolet automobiles; the last, a role detailed by journalistHunter S. Thompson in his 1970 article "The Temptations of Jean-Claude Killy" forScanlan's Monthly.
Killy starred as a ski instructor in the 1972 crime movieSnow Job, released in the UK asThe Ski Raiders, and US TV asThe Great Ski Caper. American children in the early 1970s knew Killy from a TV commercial where he introduces himself, his thick accent making his name into"Chocolate Kitty." Killy played himself in the1983 movieCopper Mountain: A Club Med Experience, starringJim Carrey andAlan Thicke, set atCopper Mountain,Colorado. Killy also stars in the noteworthy TV moviePeggy Fleming at Sun Valley (1971), in which he performs some remarkable skiing tricks alongside the three-time ice skating World ChampionPeggy Fleming.
Jean-Claude Killy also had a short career as aracing driver between 1967 and 1970, participating in several car races including at Monza. Killy entered the24 Hours of Le Mans in1969, partnered withBob Wollek, another former skier turned racing driver. Killy and Wollek's car led its class for a while before pulling out of the race with only four hours to go. In team with fellow Frenchman Bernard Cahier, Killy was 7th overall in the 1967Targa Florio in aPorsche 911 S and first in the GT classification.
In November 1972, Killy came out of ski racing retirement at age 29 to compete on the pro circuit in the U.S. for two seasons. After a spirited challenge from two-time defending championSpider Sabich, Killy won the 1973 season title, taking $28,625 in race winnings and a $40,000 bonus for the championship.[5][6]He missed the next season, won by Hugo Nindl,[7] due to a recurring stomach ailment, then returned in the fall of 1974.[8][9][10] Injuries slowed him and he finished well out of the 1975 standings, won byHank Kashiwa.
In addition to trying his skill as a car racer, Killy made two television series. One,The Killy Style, was a thirteen-week series that showcased various ski resorts, and the other,The Killy Challenge, featured him racing against celebrities, who were all given handicaps. He was also sponsored by a champagne company,Moët & Chandon, which paid him to be seen with a bottle of their champagne on his table everywhere he went.In 1974 Killy, as part of this sponsorship deal was paid to ski down the previously unskied eastern slope ofMt Ngauruhoe (Peter Jackson's "Mt Doom") inNew Zealand. The average slope on this side of the active volcano is 35 degrees. Radar recorded his speed at over 100 mph (160 km/h), and it took two takes, as cloud cover spoiled the first.
In 1975, Killy was hired to lead the new ski operations atShawnee Mountain Ski Area, a resort in the foothills of thePocono Mountains in northeasternPennsylvania.[11][12][13] In 1983, Bob Gillen wrote inSki magazine about the growing reputation of Shawnee Mountain as a ski area. He stated, "Some of the initial interest was stimulated by hiring Jean-Claude Killy to represent the facility, and for several seasons he spent a number of days there. The first time my wife ever skied with me, I saw Killy flash by at Shawnee—he was fast and smooth and he stopped frequently to check the time on hisRolex."[11]
From 1977 to 1994, he was a member of the Executive board of the Alpine Skiing Committee of theFIS. Killy served as co-president of the1992 Winter Olympics, held inAlbertville, France, and as the President of the Société duTour de France cycling race between 1992 and 2001. From 1995 to 2014, he was a member of theInternational Olympic Committee and chaired the coordination committee for Turin 2006 and Sochi 2014.[14] He has been an Honorary Member since then.[15]
Killy tried his hand at distance running and competed in the1983 New York City Marathon, finishing in 3:58:33.[16]
Theski area ofVal-d'Isère andTignes in the FrenchAlps was given the namel'Espace Killy, in his honor.[17][18]
Killy became Grand Officer of theLégion d'honneur in 2000.
Intrawest credits Killy with the design of a ski trail, "Cupp Run", at theirSnowshoe resort inWest Virginia.
From 1973 to 1987, he was married to French actressDanielle Gaubert, until her death from cancer. Together they had a daughter, Émilie; he also adopted her two children from her first marriage to Rhadamés Trujillo, the son ofRafael Trujillo, the assassinateddictator of theDominican Republic. Gaubert and Trujillo were divorced in 1968 and later that year she met Killy. He is known for being friends with Russian President,Vladimir Putin.[19][1] In an interview for the 1972 documentaryElvis on Tour,Elvis Presley named Jean-Claude as his favorite skier.
