Congratulations to DHO member Ryan Regez on winning Olympic Gold in ski cross in China on February 18 2022, the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar.
His mother, Clare Regez, said: “We believe in him! He has been dedicated, committed, focused and a true athlete and now at the top of his game…he is doing what he loves best & this was his goal….we only have immense pride and love from Team Regez, his friends, family and supporters all over the world. We support his dedication and lifestyle and hard work and training to make his dreams come true.
DHO president Nigel Ley said: “We are all enormously proud of Ryan, whose journey from his very first formal ski lesson on the Figeller to World Cup glory was documented in the 2020 DHO Journal. The way in which he has fought to overcome injury in order even to qualify for the Beijing Games is an inspiring example for us all. Congratulations, Ryan, from everyone at the DHO.”
Further coverage can be found at the following locations.
https://olympics.com/en/news/medals-update-ryan-regez-wins-gold-freestyle-skiing-ski-cross
https://twitter.com/Olympics/status/1494574717730238468
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/beijing-winter-olympics/switzerlands-ryan-regez-wins-gold-in-mens-ski-cross-final/2816008/
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/regez-leads-finish-swiss-olympic-skicross-final-82975612
There is little to add at this point other than to say there will almost certainly be dancing in the streets of Wengen tonight and we will now shamelessly rerun Ryan’s profile from 2020.
DHO skier, skicross pro, Swiss champion and world number two
Life can be comfortable for professional sportsmen and sportswomen, if they can attract an appropriate level of sponsorship, which can come swiftly with the achieving of podium status, finishing an individual event in the top three. But it can also be tough, requiring sacrifice in pursuit of success.
Socialising becomes limited as the focus on success becomes more intense, partying even more so. The body takes a physical hit from training and competing at a very high level. And relationships can come under stress from the constant travelling during the competitive season.
Ryan Regez is the son of longstanding DHO member Clare Regez and her former husband Andy, a prominent figure in Wengen, a proficient skier himself and highly regarded ski coach in his prime.
Ryan pushed himself to the fore in the 2019-2020 winter sports season, which was abruptly curtailed when the coronavirus outbreak became a coronavirus pandemic. He won two World Cup events, podiumed twice more in his chosen discipline, skicross, finished second overall in the skicross World Cup standings, and won the Swiss championship. His next ambition is to take part in skicross at the 2022 Winter Olympics, scheduled to be hosted by China.
Having joined the Swiss skicross team in 2015, Ryan became a professional in 2017. At the age of 27, he is now approaching his physical prime in a discipline that is not for the faint-hearted.
While Alpine skiing remains the pinnacle of the sport, skicross is seen very much as part of the future, being very fast and often very furious. Asked to explain the basics, Ryan advises clicking ‘skicross’ on YouTube and just watching it.
There are 32 competitors able to start in the final round of heats after the single ride timetrail called qualification. Four competitors in each of eight heats, racing directly against one another in the tuck position. The first two in each heat progress to the next round. The shortest course (Arosa, Switzerland) takes just over 30 seconds for the professionals to complete. The longest (Innichen, Italy) takes about 75 seconds.
Unlike every other form of competitive skiing, skicross is a contact sport. Shoulder to shoulder contact is allowed, in a manner similar to the traditional shoulder charge in association football. Grappling and mauling are not. Not that anything alot could be gained by pushing and pulling, as often anyone pushing or pulling would lose speed and quickly fall behind.
David Orf, who curates the DHO website, describes skicross is like speed skating on very long skates down a steep hill that is in fact a BMX track.
Ryan’s first skiing memory dates back to when he was two, on the Figeller nursery slopes in Wengen. He distinctly remembers that he didn’t want to go, but that when his mother asked what might persuade him, he said he would go if he could wear his Superman suit. Which he did.
In the manner of most children born in a skiing country, he was taken to the nursery slope and left largely to find his own way round. His natural inner confidence set him apart from his peer group from a young age.
“In my first kindergarten race, aged about five, I knew I would win and told everyone I was going to do so, “because my Dad put very fast wax on my skis”,” he recalls. While he would go on to represent Switzerland, the country of his birth, he has represented the DHO and raced in and won the DHO Super G on the Lauberhorn course in 2010, finishing third in the slalom, second in the giant slalom, and second in the parallel slalom at the British under-14 championships in 2007 in Meribel, France, representing the DHO representative.
Injury has almost inevitably reared its ugly head. In 2009 he broke his right leg and damaged his knee in Russia in February 2017.
“I did think of quitting immediately after the accident, some time passed but then I realised it is everyone’s immediate reaction to such an injury. After some time you start believing and find your initial motivation again; I vowed to come back stronger,” he says.
“I set the 2018 Olympics as my goal, and after being operated on in March 2017 I was back to winning ways before the end of that year, winning my first Europa Cup event in December.”
In 2011 and 2013, he was chosen to be one of the forerunners for the Lauberhorn Downhill, regarded as a great honour in the village.
If life can be comfortable and tough for professional sports person, it can also be short. The oldest skiers still competing are around 35, and Ryan has already given some thought to life after competitive, professional sport.
Upon leaving school at the age of 16, he served a full apprenticeship as an architectural draughtsman and has grand designs on completing the studying and work required to become an architect. But he has almost a decade left before giving up the skicross track for a desk and chair.