Winter Olympics 2022 - Dave Ryding: the man who put British skiing on the map – Best of Beijing

BEST MOMENTS OF DAY 12 From Lancashire to Beijing Ad/> Question: can you name a British Alpine skier, past or present, that isn’t called Dave? /> Beijing 2022Beijing Today day 12 — Slovakia stun USA in ice hockey upset, slalom gold for Noel15 MINUTES AGO Maybe your knowledge stretches to Chemmy Alcott or Alain Baxter – or even to Alex Tilley, Charlie Guest and Billy Major, who were also on the plane to Beijing – but we suspect the answer is a resounding no. But Dave Ryding? Surely you’ve heard of him by now. On paper, a 13th place finish at an Olympic Games isn’t something to get too excited about.

But given the ‘Rocket’ learnt his trade on a mini dry slope, first skied on snow aged 12 and was still competing on dry slopes into his 20s, this is still cause for a smile or two. All the nationalities that finished ahead of Ryding – France, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Russia – all hail from countries with famous ski resorts. Lancashire, where Ryding grew up, boasts a highest peak of 628 metres – the towering and imposing Green Hill.

It says a lot about Ryding’s meteoric rise that we are disappointed with his failure to reach the podium. In many ways he is victim of his own success, having announced himself to the nation with his historic victory in Kitzbuhel last month. “We don’t have the mountains on our doorstep.