Henri Duvillard (born 23 December 1947) is a French former alpine ski racer. He is one of just seven men to win

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 ...

races in every discipline contested at the time. Duvillard competed at the 1972 Olympics in the

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

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

and

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

events with the best result of fourth place in the slalom.

Career

Duvillard's World Cup career lasted from its inception in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

until

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, during which time he won six races, including the prestigious

Lauberhorn The Lauberhorn is a mountain in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, located between Wengen and Grindelwald, north of the Kleine Scheidegg. Its summit is at an elevation of above sea level. Lauberhorn ski races The mountain is best known for the ...

downhill in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His best results came in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, when he finished second in the overall standings, behind the legendary

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

in consecutive seasons. Troubles with the French national team leadership led him to retire from

competition, and he moved on to 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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In November 1974, Duvillard joined the U.S. pro tour and finished second (to American Hank Kashiwa) for the 1975 season (Duvillard won more money, but Kashiwa won on points). Duvillard dominated the tour in 1976, and became the pro champion at age 28

After retiring from competition, Duvillard launched an eponymous French skiwear label. His mother-in-law

May Nilsson May Nilsson (5 May 1921 – 7 November 2009) was a Swedish alpine skier, born in Åre. She won a bronze medal during the 1939 world championships in Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, ...

, father-in-law

Maurice Lafforgue Maurice Lafforgue (26 March 1915 – 31 October 1999) was a French alpine skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics. He was born in Bagnères-de-Luchon Bagnères-de-Luchon (; oc, Banhèras de Luishon), also referred to as just ...

, wife Britt Lafforgue, elder brother Adrien Duvillard, nephew Adrien Duvillard and son-in-law Frédéric Covili are all Olympic alpine skiers.

World Cup victories

6 total wins (3 downhill, 2 giant slalom, 1 slalom)

References

External links

* *
''Sports Illustrated''
– The King of the Mountain – 12 April 1976 {{DEFAULTSORT:Duvillard, Henri 1947 births Living people Sportspeople from Haute-Savoie French male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of France Alpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics