Connor Wilson

Connor Wilson (born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 18 December 1996) is a South African Alpine Skier.[1] He was the sole athlete competing for South Africa at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Connor Wilson
Personal information
National teamSouth Africa
Born (1996-12-18) 18 December 1996
Johannesburg, South Africa
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
CountrySouth Africa
SportAlpine Skiing
Rank54th (giant slalom)
71st (slalom)
Coached byCedric Maret & Grant Stockman
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals2018 Pyeongchang

Biography

Wilson was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an Active Club member. Wilson is attending the University of Vermont in veterinary sciences.[2] where he skis with Mount Mansfield Ski Club in Vermont.[3] Wilson trains at various locations but his main base is the Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho where he skis with Afriski Race Club.

Wilson started skiing at age of 5 but started alpine racing at age 15 when he attended Eaglebrook School in the USA for 2 years which had a race program.[4][5] Once Wilson returned to South Africa he was determined to carry on alpine ski racing and would drive 6 hours to Afriski Resort, Lesotho first from Kwazulu Natal where he attended Kearsney College later from Johannesburg where he attended St. John's College.[6][7] Wilson has been trained by Grant Stockman of Stockman Sports, New Zealand and by Cedric Maret of Switzerland.[8] In 2016/2017 he took a gap year and studied at the Carrabassett Valley Academy and trained at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine.[9]

Connor Wilson is an accomplished equestrian, a certified rescue scuba diver, and a helicopter pilot.[10] He got provincial riding colors in both Kwazulu Natal and Gauteng and represented SA at the All Africa Mauritian Friendship cup in 2015.[11][12] He also received the gold President's (Duke of Edinburgh) Award in 2015 while attending St. John's College, Johannesburg.[13]

FIS tournaments

Connor Wilson is the current South African National Slalom Champion. Wilson won the South African National Alpine Ski Championships in 2016[14] and 2017.[15] Wilson was also the South African National Junior Champion in 2014.[16] Wilson competed at the annual FIS championships held in Tiffindell, South Africa and came in 16th at the CIT Arnold Lunn World Cup .

At the FIS World Ski Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Wilson ranked 71st in the slalom finals[17] and 54th at the giant slalom finals .[18]

2018 Winter Olympics

On 1 February 2018, Wilson and three other South African athletes qualified to represent South Africa at the Olympics. Wilson the current South African slalom champion was chosen for South Africa's only slot in Alpine Skiing due to his superior FIS ranking, FIS points[19] and also being the only South African athlete to have qualified for the Olympics in giant slalom.[20][21] He was the flag bearer for South Africa at the 2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations.

He was accompanied by Peter Pilz and Sive Speelman and competed in the Men's Giant Slalom and Men's Slalom tournaments.[22]

References
  1. "Connor WILSON". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. Etheridge, Mark (9 February 2018). "Team SA all set to go at Winter Olympics". TeamSA. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. "Showjumping's loss is skiing's gain in Connor Wilson". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  4. "Team SA all set to go at Winter Olympics". Sport. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  5. "I want to get SA skiing on the map – Alpine skier Connor Wilson at Winter Games". 12 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  6. "Showjumping's loss is skiing's gain in Connor Wilson". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  7. Botton, Wesley. "Sunny South Africa will have one guy at the Winter Olympics". The Citizen. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  8. "Showjumping's loss is skiing's gain in Connor Wilson". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  9. "Athlete Profile – Connor WILSON". Pyeongchang 2018. Pyeongchang. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  10. "Olympic FIS Points List". data.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  11. "Team SA all set to go at Winter Olympics". Sport. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  12. "Showjumping's loss is skiing's gain in Connor Wilson". ESPN.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  13. "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  14. "National Championship – Mens Salom". fis-ski. Tiffendale: FIS. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  15. "National Championship – Mens Salom". fis-ski. Tiffendale: FIS. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  16. "Connor Wilson named 2014 SA National Ski Champ". Rosebank Killarny Gazette. Houghton: IAB. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  17. "FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017". Fédération Internationale de Ski. St. Moritz, Switzerland. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 71 – Connor Wilson
  18. "Men's Giant Slalom Results". Fédération Internationale de Ski. St. Moritz, Switzerland. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018. 54 – Connor Wilson
  19. "Olympic FIS Points List". data.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  20. Said, Nick (8 February 2018). "Showjumping's loss is skiing's gain in Connor Wilson". KweséESPN. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  21. Reuters Staff (1 February 2018). "Alpine skiing-South Africa send lone participant to Winter Olympics". Cape Town. Reuters. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  22. Lindeque, Brent (9 February 2018). "Skier Connor Wilson will be the only South African representing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea starting today". Goodthingsguy.com. Retrieved 11 February 2018.


Olympic Games
Preceded by
Wayde van Niekerk		 Flag bearer for  South Africa
2018 Pyeongchang		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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