Ophélie David |
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| Born | July 6, 1976 Cucq |
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| Country | France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Ophélie David (née Rácz) (born July 6, 1976) is a French freestyle skier specializing in ski cross, an event in which she is the reigning six-time world champion in, and has won four consecutive times at the Winter X Games as well as being ranked number one in the world in since 2004.
David began her career as an alpine skier, competing for Hungary at the 1994 Winter Olympics 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 at the 1964 Summer Olympics.[1]
David qualified to compete in the inaugural Winter Olympic Ski Cross race in Vancouver. She was considered the odds-on favorite for gold due to her long-time dominance in the discipline,[2] but crashed out in the quarterfinals and was placed ninth.[3]
Ophélie grew up on the island of Corsica, where her retired parents still reside.
She is married to Phil David, who is very supportive of her career.[4] They have a daughter named Lilou, born in 1999 (2000?). The family is very close, making frequent use of Skype while Ophélie travels for competitions.[5][6]
Her hobbies include recreational gymnastics, basketball, windsurfing, traveling, painting, books, and cinema.[7][8] She is also a competitive mountain biker, her biggest win being the 2008 Megavalanche race.[9] During the summer, she is involved with sports camps for children, and during the winter is a ski instructor.
She speaks French and English.