Patrick Russel (born 22 December 1946) is a former French Alpine ski racer and World Cup champion. He specialized in the technical disciplines (

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

and slalom) and won three discipline championships in the

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 name is ...

: slalom in

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

. He also won two silver medals in slalom and combined at the 1970 World Championships at

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; ; ) is a valley in the Dolomites of South Tyrol, Northern Italy. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a tributary of the Eisack river. The ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Career

Russel was the son of Lee Russel, who was a marketing executive at the French ski manufacturer Rossignol. He competed on the World Cup circuit from 1968 through 1972 and became the first male to win World Cup races in three straight years (1968–70) and in four straight years (1968–71). Overall, he won 13 World Cup races and achieved 26 podiums during his career, as well as three discipline championships ( slalom in

and

;

) and two World Championship silver medals in

. In 1970, he finished second overall in the World Cup (only 3 points) behind

Karl Schranz Karl Schranz (born 18 November 1938) is a former champion alpine ski racer from Austria, one of the best of the 1960s and early 1970s. Born and raised in St. Anton, Tyrol, Schranz had a lengthy ski racing career, from 1957 to 1972. He won tw ...

, and in 1971 he was third overall behind

Gustav Thöni Gustav Thöni (; sometimes listed as Gustavo Thoeni; born 28 February 1951) is an Italian retired World Cup alpine ski racer. Career Thöni was born in the German-speaking province of South Tyrol, in the hamlet of Trafoi of the Stilfs munici ...

. In 1972, Russel broke his leg during a giant slalom in

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, three weeks before the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

and was unable to compete for the remainder of the season. After the French men failed to medal during the Olympics, the French ski coach was replaced, and the new coach fired French stars Russel,

Henri Duvillard Henri Duvillard (born 23 December 1947) is a French former alpine ski racer. He is one of just seven men to win World Cup races in every discipline contested at the time. Duvillard competed at the 1972 Olympics in the slalom, giant slalom and ...

and

Jean-Noël Augert Jean-Noël Augert (born 17 August 1949) is a French former alpine skier. He competed at the 1972 Olympics and finished in fifth place in the slalom and giant slalom. Career Augert was born in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and grew at the La Toussuir ...

from the World Cup team at the start of 1973. It has been suggested that a conflict between the two alpine cultures (alpine and urban) provoked by Bozon and Rossignol caused the firings, the three racers involved being encouraged to not take both training and races seriously just before they were fired. The coaches themselves resigned. Bozon got what he wanted and in the process destroyed the French ski team for years thereafter. All three skiers then turned professional and competed in the United States until their retirements. After his retirement from competition, Russel became a ski instructor in France at

Les Arcs Les Arcs () is a ski resort located in Savoie, France, in the Tarentaise Valley town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Initially created by Robert Blanc and Roger Godino, it is a part of the huge Paradiski system which is under ownership by Compagnie ...

World Cup victories

Season titles

Individual victories

13 total wins (9 slalom, 4 giant slalom)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Russel, Patrick French male alpine skiers Living people 1946 births FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Skiers from Chamonix 20th-century French sportsmen