Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers (born 11 July 1997) is a male

Mexican Canadian Mexican Canadians ( es, Canadiense mexicano, french: Canadien Mexicain ) are Canadian citizens of Mexican origin, either through birth or ethnicity, who reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, 155,380 Canadians indicated that they were of ...

alpine skier representing

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015.

Personal life

Dickson was born on July 11, 1997, in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...

. He was orphaned at nine months, and as an orphan, he was referred to as "Jesús de Dios" (English: Jesus of God). He was named Rodolfo Roberto after his Mexican godfather and his Canadian adoptive grandfather, Brian Robert Dickson. Dickson was adopted by a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

couple at age three. He was later diagnosed with learning disabilities, having not spoken and still wearing diapers. He moved to Oakville, Ontario, Canada, with his adoptive parents. In 2015, after graduating from National Ski Academy, Collingwood, he moved to Europe to enter full-time FIS ski training with Ambition Ski Racing, Leogang, Austria. As of 2017, Dickson lives 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 ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Skiing career

Dickson started skiing at age 6, on a family vacation to

Mont Tremblant Resort Mont Tremblant Ski Resort (commonly referred to as Tremblant) is a year-round resort in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, located about northwest of Montreal. It is best known as a ski destination, but also features Lake Tremblant su ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He continued skiing the Milton Heights Racing Club in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and won several medals and trophies. He graduated from Mountain View Public School in Collingwood, Ontario in 2011. He later joined the National Ski Academy under academy head Jurg Gfeller, located in Collingwood, Ontario, where he remained for five years. While at the academy, he won bronze, silver and gold medals in K2 and U18 age classification races. In 2015, the final year of academy, he won an Overall FIS Gold Medal at a race at Whiteface in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. The win at Whiteface in January 2015 represents the first time a Mexican national has won an international race on a FIS circuit. He graduated from the academy with the highest FIS points of the class of 2015 for the 2014-2015 FIS season and with honours as an

Ontario Scholar Ontario Scholars are high school graduates in the Canadian province of Ontario who attain an average of 80% or greater in their six best Grade 12 courses. The award is granted by the Ontario Ministry of Education, and consists of a certificate f ...

. After graduating from high school, he then moved to train in

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 ...

and 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 ...

, as well as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In October 2015, he moved to

Ambition Ski Racing Academy Ambition, Ambitions or Ambitious may refer to: Music * ''Ambitions'' (One Ok Rock album), 2017 * ''Ambition'' (Tommy Shaw album), 2014 * ''Ambition'' (Wale album), 2011, or the title song * "Ambition", a song by Band-Maid from the 2021 album ...

in the UK and started training full-time at the FIS program in

Leogang Leogang is a municipality in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg in Austria. It is a famous winter sports and summer mountain hiking resort. Population Sights :Mining and Gothic Museum :tourist mine Schwarzle ...

, Austria, representing Mexico as a FIS alpine ski racer. Dickson qualified for the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

in men's

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 slalom. His Olympic effort is self-funded. He represents the Mexican team of

Alpine skiing 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 ...

, along with

Sarah Schleper Sarah Schleper (born February 19, 1979, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado), also known as Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola, is former American, now Mexican alpine skier with dual Mexican citizenship via her marriage to a Mexican citizen, whose career st ...

. Another two athletes also hope to make the Olympics for Mexico, Robby Franco in freestyle skiing,

Sandra Hillen Sandra or SANDRA may refer to: People * Sandra (given name) * Sandra (singer) (born 1962), German pop singer * Margaretha Sandra (1629–1674), Dutch soldier * Sandra (orangutan), who won the legal right to be defined as a "non-human person" Pla ...

in snowboard. He qualified for the 2018 Olympics, alongside alpinist Sarah Schleper, freestyler Roberto Franco, and cross-country skier

Germán Madrazo Germán Madrazo Baca (born 15 September 1974) is a businessman and Mexican cross-country skier. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Madrazo is the owner of The Valley Running Company in McAllen, Texas, where he resides. 2018 Winter Olympics ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Rodolfo 1997 births People from Puerto Vallarta Skiers from Vancouver Mexican male alpine skiers Canadian male alpine skiers Mexican emigrants to Canada Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Mexico Living people