Jean Vuarnet

Jean Raoul Célina André Vuarnet was born in Le Bardo, Tunisia, on 18 January 1933. His father Victor Vuarnet was a doctor and had a medical practice there. The year after his birth, his family moved to Morzine, France, where he grew up. He was introduced to skiing as a young child, childhood friends with future director Roger Vadim. As a result she returned to Montreal on her own. == Career ==

after Bonlieu's win in 1960 As Vuarnet believed himself to not be a natural skier, he instead focused on studying technique of successful skiers. For this win he used the position he had invented, "the egg" (), now known as The Tuck, a lower stance in which he squatted down, back parallel to the slope and leaning down, to reduce drag from wind in a bid to increase his speed. He was also the first to win an Olympic gold medal on metal skis, versus the standard wooden ones, which were given to him only a few days before the race. After retiring from active competition, Vuarnet became head of the Italian ski team from 1968 to 1972, and vice-president of the French Ski Federation, a role in which he served from 1972 to 1974. == Business ==

In the early 1960s, Vuarnet was asked by his hometown of Morzine to help develop the skiing area around the town. He did so by creating the purpose-build resort of Avoriaz, together with a group of young architects. Around Avoriaz he developed a new area for alpine skiing, later linked to other areas in France and Switzerland known as ehe Portes du Soleil. The brand produced a popular line of anti-glare sunglasses, as well as watches and skiwear. == Personal life ==

In 1958, he married Edith Bonlieu, a three-time French women's ski champion and fellow Olympian, sister of François Bonlieu. The Vuarnet family dispute that it was a mass suicide, proposing instead that they were murdered by outside forces. On the 50th anniversary of his Olympic win, a glass statue of Vuarnet was unveiled in his home town of Morzine, in the "Tuck" position. == Death ==

After a stroke, Vuarnet died at age 83 at Sallanches, Haute-Savoie, on 1 January 2017. == Publications ==

• Translated into English by John Ceely in 1957 • • == References ==