Erik Schlopy (born August 21, 1972) is former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing (cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

and raised in

Hamburg, New York Hamburg is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 56,936. It is named after the city of Hamburg, Germany. The town is on the western border of the county and is south of Buffalo. Ham ...

, he competed in three

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, and 2006. At the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, he placed 34th in Giant Slalom. At the 2002 Olympics, he placed 14th in Slalom, and at the 2006 Olympic Games, he placed 13th in Giant Slalom. He also won a bronze medal in the Giant Slalom at the 2003 World Championships. Schlopy also took two podium finishes in the

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ...

, won seven US national championship titles, and was a member of the

United States Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

for 14 seasons. He was a youngster when he started skiing at Kissing Bridge Ski Area near Buffalo, and when the family moved to Stowe, Schlopy became a force in junior racing with the Mount Mansfield Ski Club. He enrolled in Burke Mountain Academy and was Eastern junior champ at 14, J1 slalom and GS champ at 16 and joined the U.S. Ski Team at 18. He left the World Cup after the ’95 season to race pro, then decided to return to the World Cup and paid for his training and racing in Winter 1999, and was named to the 2000 Ski Team. Schlopy retired from competition in 2008. He subsequently became a coach, and in August 2013 it was announced that he had joined the US national ski team as assistant coach to the men's alpine technical team, serving under Bernd Brunner.

Personal life

Schlopy is married to former Olympic swimmer

Summer Sanders Summer Elisabeth Sanders (born October 13, 1972) is an American sports commentator, reporter, television personality, actress, former competition swimmer and Olympic champion from 1992. Early life Sanders was born in Roseville, California, an ...

; they have two children. They are both

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

fans. Freestyle skier

Alex Schlopy Alex Schlopy (born July 25, 1992) is an American freeskier from Park City, Utah. He was the winner of a gold medal at the 2011 Winter X Games in the big air contest. The following week, he won the gold medal in slopestyle at the 201 ...

is Erik's cousin and is the son of Erik's cousin

Todd Schlopy Robert Todd Schlopy (born June 17, 1961) is a motion picture cameraman and former American football placekicker. Born in Bradford, Pennsylvania and raised in Buffalo, NY, Schlopy attended Orchard Park High School in Orchard Park, New York. He ...

, a former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Sp ...

for the

.Buffalo Bills Noteworthy Fans on Twitter
Retrieved 14:25 PM EST on 29 JAN 2021.

References

External links

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World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * 1972 births Living people American male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of the United States Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York People from Hamburg, New York American alpine skiing coaches Vermont Catamounts skiers {{US-alpine-skiing-bio-stub