Ophélie David (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Rácz, born 6 July 1976) is a French

freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and ...

specializing in

ski cross Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often cons ...

, an event in which she has won a world championship and four consecutive

Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

, as well as having previously been ranked number one in the world in. David began her career as an

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 ...

, competing for Hungary at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

in both the slalom and the combined, both of which she failed to finish. David was able to compete for Hungary because her father, János Rácz, held Hungarian citizenship and had competed for that country in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. David qualified to compete in the inaugural Winter Olympic Ski Cross race in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. She was considered the odds-on favorite for gold due to her long-time dominance in the discipline, but crashed out in the quarterfinals and was placed ninth. She finished in fourth position at

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

after she fell in the final.

Personal life

David grew up on the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

, where her retired parents still reside. She is married to Phil David, who is very supportive of her career. They have a daughter named Lilou, born in 1999 (2000?). The family is very close, making frequent use of

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

while David travels for competitions. Her hobbies include recreational gymnastics, basketball, windsurfing, traveling, painting, books, and cinema. She is also a competitive mountain biker, her biggest win being the 2008

Megavalanche Megavalanche (nicknamed "Mega") is a enduro mountain bike race held annually at the Alpe d'Huez ski resort in the French Alps since 1995, and annually on the island of Réunion. The Alps event, being the more widely publicized and famous among ...

race. During the summer, she is involved with sports camps for children, and during the winter is a ski instructor. She speaks French and English.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Ophelie 1976 births Living people French female freestyle skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Hungary Olympic freestyle skiers of France Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Freestyle skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics X Games athletes People from Cucq Sportspeople from Pas-de-Calais French people of Hungarian descent