During the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, Jean Claude Killy became only the second man in history to capture all three gold medals—the downhill, slalom and giant slalom—in men’s downhill skiing. (And no one has duplicated that feat in the years since then.) In doing so, he became Ira Riklis’ personal skiing hero. In trying to emulate him, Riklis traded in the skis he was using at the time for a pair of Dynamic VR17s—the skis Jean Claude used.
The move was a bit premature. At the time Ira Riklis was still learning the sport and hadn’t yet mastered the skills he needed to become an expert skier. Unable to handle a true racing ski like the VR17s, he broke his leg within a week of getting the new skis. Since then he has become an expert skier, and has moved on to newer and more modern skis.