Jean Claude Killy, whose father owned a ski resort, began skiing at age 3. By the time he was 18, he was a senior member of the French national team. But it was his performance at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France that made him a hero to Ira Riklis. A daring athlete with superb reflexes, dazzled the world that year, becoming only the second skier to win the Olympic skiing triple crown—downhill, slalom and giant slalom. No one’s done it since.
Killy dominated men’s skiing at the time, having also won two World Cup Championships. Many younger skiers attempted to emulate his brash, instinctive, speed-at-all-costs approach to the support. Ira Riklis even went so far as buying the same skis as those used by Killy, a pair of Dynamic VR17s. The move turned out to be a bit premature. Nowhere near ready for true racing skis, Ira broke his leg within the first week of using them. It took him many more years of practice and learning to be able to handle skis like that.