Franck Piccard (born 17 September 1965) is a French former

Alpine skier 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 ...

. A native of

Les Saisies Les Saisies is a ski resort located in the Savoie '' départment'' of France. It is from Albertville, host of the 1992 Winter Olympics. For those games, the resort hosted the biathlon and cross-country skiing events. The resort also has alpine sk ...

, Piccard won a total of four

Alpine skiing 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 ( ...

races. At the 1988 Olympics in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

he won a gold medal in the Super-G competition (the first winter Olympic gold-medal for a French athlete since ski racer

Jean-Claude Killy Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most su ...

in 1968, who became a three-times gold-medallist) and a bronze medal in the downhill. At the 1992 Olympics in

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

he won a silver medal in the downhill. He also could achieve a bronze-medal in the Super-G-Race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1991. :First excellent success was winning a gold-medal in the downhill race in the FIS Alpine Skiing Junior World Championships 1982 at

Auron Auron may refer to: * Auron (comics), two fictional DC Comics superheroes * Auron (ski resort) * Auron (river) in central France, a tributary of the Yèvre * Auron, a playable character in the Square role-playing game ''Final Fantasy X'' * One o ...

. First "World Cup Points", he could catch on December 10th, 1983, placed 4th in the Super-G at Val-d’Isère, first win was in the Super-G on March 23rd, 1988, at Beaver Creek. At the begin of his skiing career he did prefer starting in Downhill and Super-G races, later he changed to the Giant Slalom. Last World Cup race was on February 10th, 1996, in the Giant Slalom at

Hinterstoder Hinterstoder is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria, Austria. The village is located close on the border to the federal state Styria and 600 m above sea level. Hinterstoder is surrounded by several mountains: ...

; he was placed 27th (therefore one place - and 0,38 sec. - behind

Hermann Maier Hermann Maier (born 7 December 1972) is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup tit ...

at his debut in World Cup Races). Afterwards, he did start in so-called FIS-races and in the French Championships, until the year 2000. He could achieve a three-times French Champion (1985 till 1993). Another results in the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships: :

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

1985: Alpine Combined 6th; Downhill 15th. :

Crans-Montana Crans-Montana is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Montana and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana. Cr ...

1987: Super-G 10th; Alpine Combined 10th. :

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numer ...

1989: Super-G 10th. :

Saalbach-Hinterglemm Saalbach-Hinterglemm is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is well known for its skiing and other winter sports. A four piste network consisting of Saalbach, Hinterglemm, Fieberbru ...

1991: Super-G 3rd; Giant Slalom 13th; Downhill 15th. :

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

1996: Giant Slalom 15h. :In the Giant Slalom at

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

in 1993 he didn't finish the first run, held on February 9th. After retiring from downhill skiing, Piccard competed in long-distance cross-country skiing at the national level in 2006–2009. In 1988, he was awarded the Prix de la ville de Paris by the French Academy of Sports. His father gave him the name Franck in tribute to

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

. Piccard's siblings

Leila Piccard Leila Piccard (born 11 January 1971) is a French former alpine skier who competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics and 1998 Winter Olympics. She took a bronze medal in the giant slalom in the 1997 Alpine Skiing World Championships and scored one World ...

Ian Piccard Ian Piccard (born 11 March 1968) is a French former alpine skier who competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics and 1998 Winter Olympics. He is the brother of fellow skiers Franck Piccard, Leila Piccard Leila Piccard (born 11 January 1971) is a French ...

and Jeff Piccard also competed as alpine skiers, as does his daughter Lucie. Another brother,

Ted Piccard Ted Piccard (born November 30, 1978 in Albertville) is a French freestyle skier, specializing in ski cross and a former alpine skier. Piccard competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics for France. He placed 16th in the qualifying round in ski cross, t ...

, has competed in both alpine skiing and skiercross.

World Cup victories

References

External links

FIS-ski biography for Franck Piccard
1965 births Sportspeople from Savoie French male alpine skiers Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Living people Olympic alpine skiers of France Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics {{France-alpine-skiing-bio-stub