RYDING’s BRAIN FREEZE
BRIT’S WAKE-UP CALL AFTER DREAM GOLD
DAVE RYDING says his focus is fully back on the job after conquering the world – and then quickly being brought back down to earth.
Last Saturday, he became the first Briton to win an Alpine skiing World Cup event but on his return to the slopes in the slalom in Schladming on Tuesday he slipped to 20th, two places behind team-mate Billy Major.
“I got slapped back to reality,” said Ryding. “For sure, there was a bit of a physical hangover and for sure mentally, I was still trying to process everything. There was a lot of emotion.
“But it was a stark and timely reminder that you have to do everything right in the lead up to an Olympics.
“I was only 1.4secs off winning. But those small margins I got wrong made a big difference.”
Ryding can be forgiven a relatively bad day at the office so soon after becoming the oldest winner of a slalom and the oldest first-time winner of aWorld Cup slalom.
The 35-year-old was sent videos from all over the world of people celebrating his historic achievement. He was even front page news in Fiji.
“It takes me back to when I was a kid watching, say, Alain Baxter or Chemmy Alcott,” he said. “When they had a good result
I’d be on the slopes, skiing around like we Britons were kings of the mountains.
“You feel this extra pride and passion and I know Brits will have been hammering around the Alps or wherever this week thinking, ‘Yeah, we’re the skiing gods of the world, Great
Britain’. That’s cool to know and it’s cool to know I’ve brought so much emotion and passion to people.”
For a guy who learnt to ski on plastic bristles on a dry slope in Lancashire, winning last week at the ski mecca of Kitzbuhel has understandably taken time to sink in.
The focus now, though, is on the Winter Olympics, with the opening ceremony in Beijing a week today.
Ryding has returned home briefly to see his family but is taking no risks and will stay behind his mask and see them only outside.The stakes are too high to risk infection now.
He said: “Everyone who’s been on the podium this year will be getting asked the same question: Can you do it again in Beijing?
“There have been six different races this year and six different winners. Of the 18 podium places there’s been 14 different people.
“So yeah, I can do it, because I’ve done it once. Let’s see if I can do it again.”