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

Mexican Canadian Mexican Canadians (, ) are Canadians, Canadian citizens of Mexican origin, either through birth or ethnicity, who reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, 155,380 Canadians indicated they were of full or partial Mexican ancestry (0.42% of ...

alpine skier representing

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. 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 resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

. 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 () 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 their being ''C ...

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 cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, 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 resort, ski destination, but also features Lake ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He continued skiing the Milton Heights Racing Club in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and won several medals and trophies. He graduated from Mountain View Public School in

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

in 2011. He later joined the National Ski Academy under academy head Jurg Gfeller, located in

, 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, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

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

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In October 2015, he moved to Ambition Ski Racing Academy 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 (district), Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg in Austria. It is a famous winter sports and summer mountain hiking resort. Population Sights :Mining ...

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

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

in men's

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. 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 Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

, along with Sarah Schleper. Another two athletes also hope to make the Olympics for Mexico, Robby Franco in freestyle skiing, Sandra Hillen in snowboard. He qualified for the 2018 Olympics, alongside alpinist Sarah Schleper, freestyler Roberto Franco, and cross-country skier Germán Madrazo.

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 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Mexican sportsmen