Vic Wild: Difference between revisions
No edit summary Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
m Changing short description from "Russian snowboarder" to "American-born Russian snowboarder" (Shortdesc helper) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ |
{{ description|Russian snowboarder}} |
||
{{Infobox sportsperson |
{{Infobox sportsperson |
||
| name = Vic Wild |
| name = Vic Wild |
||
Revision as of 09:10, 26 June 2021
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Victor Ivan Wild |
| Citizenship |  Russia |
| Born | August 23, 1986 White Salmon, Washington, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Russia |
| Sport | Snowboarding |
Medal record | |
Victor Ivan "Vic" Wild (Template:Lang-ru; born August 23, 1986) is an American-born Russian snowboarder.
Career
Wild won a bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom at the 2013 FIS Snowboarding World Championships[1] and gold medals in the parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, which made him the first snowboarder ever to win two medals at the same Winter Games.[2]
Wild originally competed for the United States, but after the 2010 Winter Olympics, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association shut down its alpine snowboarding program. According to a 2014 story by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Wild had been viewed by US snowboarding officials "as an enfant terrible, someone who didn't understand alpine's place in the [USA] snowboarding power structure. Halfpipe is king, with slopestyle creeping up in importance, and snowboardcross racing third."[2] One of Wild's former coaches indicated that before its closure, the alpine snowboarding program had a budget of $135,000, a fraction of the funding needed for an internationally competitive team.[2] This is mainly caused by the fact that the United States remains the only country in the world not to fund its Olympic Committee, that is why available funding is limited.[3]
Instead of ending his career, Wild opted to leave the country; when he married Russian snowboarder Alena Zavarzina in 2011, Wild applied for Russian citizenship.[4]
After winning gold for Russia at the Sochi Olympics, Wild commented, "Russia is a country that made it possible for me to win. Had I stayed in the US, I'd probably be still sitting at home, doing some ordinary job, doing something banal, and not interesting. I always wanted something different … It is just amazing that I won this gold for Russia. Some may think, 'This guy still stays American.' … And that is not true! I am not some American guy who decided it would be easier to get to Olympics in a country where snowboarding is undeveloped. I have chosen the harder path to success, and I have walked it all the way."[5]
Wild received the Order For Merit to the Fatherland Award 4th class with Russian President Vladimir Putin handing the state awards.[6][7]
References
- ^ "Isabella Laboeck and Benjamin Karl clinch Parallel Giant Slalom World Championships title". FIS. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
- ^ a b c Passan, Jeff (February 22, 2014). "How an American snowboarder helped Russia win the Sochi Games' medal table". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- ^ teamusa.org
- ^ Maese, Rick (February 19, 2014). "How did American Vic Wild win a medal for Russia?". Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
- ^ Profile Archived February 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, sovsport.md; accessed February 14, 2014.
- ^ "Russia's Olympic athletes receive state awards". Itar-Tass. February 24, 2014.
- ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-36830502/russia-operated-state-sponsored-doping-programme
External links
| Big air | |
|---|---|
| Giant slalom | |
| Halfpipe |
|
| Parallel giant slalom |
|
| Parallel slalom | |
| Slopestyle |
|
| Snowboard cross |
|
- Living people
- American male snowboarders
- Russian male snowboarders
- 1986 births
- American emigrants to Russia
- Russian people of American descent
- Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Olympic snowboarders of Russia
- Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Russia
- Olympic medalists in snowboarding
- Sportspeople from Washington (state)
- People from Klickitat County, Washington
- Naturalised citizens of Russia