Jean-Pierre Vidal (born February 24, 1977 in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie) is a French alpine skier. As a young skier, he focused mainly on downhill. After hurting his knee, however, he decided to go for slalom. In 2002, he had his best year, winning a gold medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics and a victory in the World Championships. A song was called after him (Slalom dans la tête) and in the French ski resort Les Sybelles, a lift was named after his gold medal as well (Médaille d'Or in La Toussuire). After this fantastic year, it took Vidal until 2006 to return to the highest level of skiing competition. In January 2006, he won a race in Kitzbühel. Barely a month later, on February 24, 2006, he broke his forearm during a training session in Turin. He then decided to stop his professional career. At this time, the 2006 Winter Olympics were not over yet.
Read more about Jean-Pierre Vidal: World Cup Victories
Famous quotes containing the word vidal:
“Now the long-feared Asiatic colossus takes its turn as world leader, and we—the white race—have become the yellow man’s burden. Let us hope that he will treat us more kindly than we treated him.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)