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Five minutes with...
David Wise
We spoke to the American freestyle skier at the start of the Audi Nines competition
about the bounce-back his career has seen - and how he got it rolling with one of the
most dramatic Olympic gold medal wins we’ve seen. So how does it feel to be back at
the top?
Images: ESPN
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Enjoying the Audi Nine?
Yeah. The course this year is the most
unique course for any sport that’s ever
been built. It’s got a rhythm section or
a speed section for ski-crossers, it’s
got a really fast drop-in, some jumps,
and then it goes into a hip - into a
braided core section where you have
to land on edge each time and land in
a turn. It goes into this cool full pipe
tunnel, that you can flash in, right into
a loop - an actual loop which I never
thought I’d see on skis in my life.
And then obviously, it goes into what
would be the standard nine nights type
feature of a big old jump. And then it
ends with the feature that I love the
most: the giant quarter pipe.
It’s super fun... if anything there’s too
much to do! I don’t know how to focus
because I like the whole thing.
Sounds awesome man, glad to hear
it’s as cool to ride as it is to watch.
We owe you a congrats on the gold
medal – what did you make of the
Olympics?
The Olympics were amazing. It
was something that I have a hard
time even talking about because
so much happened in such a short
period of time, but it was an amazing
experience.
I really feel like the competition day
for skiing in general was great. When
I was getting ready to drop in for
my third run - having not landed my
first two runs - I was able to really
say to myself, “Hey, skiing won
today, whether I win or not. Whether
I land this run or not, skiing really
represented itself well and our sport
looked good for the world to see.”
So, then I was able to drop in,
fortunately landed my run and now
I have the good fortune of being
the representative of skiing again
as Olympic champion. Amazing
experience.
How’s the tone at the Olympics – is
everyone super-serious? Did you
come away with any funny stories?
Lots. When I was flying home and I
had tried to get an upgrade so that I
could fly home first class, but it didn’t
go through. All of the Olympic people
were on the same flight - so obviously
there were people who are higher
rollers than I am, so I got on the plane
and I sat in my seat.
All of a sudden I see the pilot and the
co-pilot walking up to my seat and
I was like, “Oh man, yes I’m getting
upgraded for sure.” But nope, they just
wanted to take a photo and then they
went back and flew the plane!
Have you got anywhere special you
keep your medals?
They’re right here with me right now! I
travel around with them a lot - I think
part of my responsibility as the guy
who won the Olympics is to share it
with everybody who supported me
along the way.
So it’s fun for me to be at an event
like Audi Nines, and a couple of my
sponsors are here, to be able to let
them hold the medal and be like,
“Yeah, you guys are part of this, u
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