Rodolfo Dickson

Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers[1][2] (born 11 July 1997)[3] is a male Mexican Canadian[4] alpine skier representing Mexico.[1] He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015.[5][4]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Dickson and the second or maternal family name is Sommers.

Rodolfo Dickson
FIS id: 540026
Country Mexico (Skiing)
 Canada (Dual Citizenship)
Full nameRodolfo Roberto Dickson Sommers
Born (1997-07-11) July 11, 1997
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Personal life

Dickson was born on July 11, 1997, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[3][6] He was orphaned at 9 months, and as an orphan, he was referred to as "Jesús de Dios" (English: Jesus of God). He was named Rodolfo Roberto after his Mexican godfather, and his Canadian adoptive grandfather, Brian Robert Dickson. Dickson had been adopted at age 3 by a Canadian couple. He was later diagnosed with learning disabilities at that time, having not spoken and still wearing diapers. He moved to Oakville, Ontario Canada with his adoptive parents.[4]

In 2015, after graduating from National Ski Academy, Collingwood, he moved to Europe to enter full-time FIS ski training with Ambition Ski Racing, Leogang, Austria.[4]

As of 2017, Dickson lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[7]

Skiing career

Dickson started skiing at age 6, on a family vacation to Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec. He continued skiing the Milton Heights Racing Club in Ontario, and won several medals and trophies.[4] He graduated from Mountain View Public School in Collingwood, Ontario in 2011. He later joined the National Ski Academy under academy head Jurg Gfeller, located in Collingwood, Ontario, where he remained for 5 years. While at the academy, he won bronze, silver and gold medals in K2 and U18 age classification races.[4] In 2015, the final year of academy, he won an Overall FIS Gold Medal at a race at Whiteface in New York State. The win at Whiteface in January 2015 represents the first time a Mexican national has won an international race on a FIS circuit.[5][4] He graduated from the academy with the highest FIS points of the class of 2015 for the 2014-2015 FIS season, and with honours as an Ontario Scholar. After graduating from high school, he then moved to training in Switzerland, and the United States, as well as Canada. In October 2015, he moved to Ambition Ski Racing Academy in the UK, and started training full-time at the FIS program in Leogang, Austria; representing Mexico as a FIS alpine ski racer.[4]

Dickson qualifies for the 2018 Winter Olympics, in men's giant slalom and slalom. His Olympic effort is self-funded.[7] He represents the Mexican team of Alpine skiing, along with Sarah Schleper.[5][8][6][9] Another two athletes also hope to make the Olympics for Mexico, Robby Franco in freestyle skiing, Sandra Hillen in snowboard.[9] He qualified for the 2018 Olympics, alongside alpinist Sarah Schleper, freestyler Roberto Franco, and cross-country skier Germán Madrazo.[10][11]

References
  1. "DICKSON SOMMERS Rodolfo Roberto". Athlete Biography. FIS.
  2. Eliza Grigg (November 21, 2015). "Another day, another dawn".
  3. "Rodolfo Dickson" (in German). Welt Ski DE.
  4. "From orphan in Puerto Vallarta to competitive international skiing". Puerto Vallarta News. January 21, 2016.
  5. Tik Root (March 6, 2015). "Mariachi Man: Prince Hubertus and the Mexican ski team he helped create". Sports Illustrated.
  6. "México estará presente en los Juegos Olímpicos Invernales de 2018" (in Spanish). SIPSE.com. August 11, 2017.
  7. Adriana Terrazas (October 31, 2017). "'Tres' company for the Mexico ski team in the Winter Olympics". ESPN.
  8. "Tres mexicanos acudirán a Pyeongchang 2018" (in Spanish). Esportes.MX. May 18, 2017.
  9. Carlos Alberto Cruz (February 23, 2017). "México con cuatro o cinco atletas a Pyeongchang 2018" (in Spanish). El Big Data.
  10. Luis Gomez (February 9, 2018). "How to root for Team Mexico in the 2018 Winter Olympics". San Diego Union-Tribue.
  11. Abigail Parra (February 7, 2018). "Delegación mexicana en PyeonChang 2018, la más grande desde 1992" (in Spanish). mediotiempo.
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