Two-Time Olympian and Dartmouth Grad, Chodounsky, Retires

The last two seasons have not been as successful, but he still has been flashing the kind of speed that won him a top-five finish three short seasons ago. Heading into the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, rumor spread that Chodounsky was skiing fast in training – really fast. In a recent interview to talk about his retirement, he confirmed that he was beating some of the top slalom skiers in the world in pre-Olympic training, until back pain in a training run two days before the Olympics almost derailed his opportunity to race and stole his chance at racing in top form. He leaves his career still the top-ranked World Cup slalom skier for the United States and he still believes he is really fast.

Partly due to the recent emphasis on development at U.S. Ski and Snowboard, the U.S. Ski Team announced that there would be no slalom team for the 2018/19 season, a decision that has left a sour taste in the mouth of the American ski community.

“These are always tough decisions. Resource allocation and budgeting lead to tough decisions,” Chief of Sport, Luke Bodensteiner, said in an interview for this story.

He also said that in the past, the Team had tended to use coaches discretion, but they wanted to make decisions with objective, hard data this season. David Chodounsky and his slalom comrades did not fall within the lines of these plans. Chodounsky made it clear that he did not retire because of the new direction, but the plan certainly did not help him continue. The question that springs to the minds of many, in cases like this one, has been how a bridge is built to the future without leveraging the talent and experience of today?

Results and speed are important, but role models and hope are also important. The U.S. Ski Team is putting greater emphasis on youth, with development taking greater priority as they roll out an ambitious new program, but U.S. Ski and Snowboard CEO, Tiger Shaw, also talked last spring about the importance of culture and how it can be an incubator for success. Chodounsky is older, and his results have not been what either he or the U.S. Ski Team have expected over the last couple of years; but an athlete like David Chodounsky can serve as a foundation for a winning and supportive culture as the team transitions. He gave hope to athletes and parents who harbor thoughts of managing school and skiing, of building a career in skiing while moving forward with a life.  David Chodounsky proved that school and skiing do not need to be mutually exclusive, as American skiing continues to confront the question of bridging the development gap that exists between the ages of 17 and 25. It is during these years that many athletes lose hope and walk away from the sport, it can seem like a hopeless grind and Chodounsky forged a different path. A path that included college.

Make no mistake, if there is anyone who’s talent and experience could be leveraged to create a culture of success, it is David Chodounsky. His path to World Cup success and two Olympic teams is unique and can serve as a roadmap for American skiers who are looking for role models. Chodounsky’s path was different because he attended Dartmouth College for the full four years with a double major in engineering and earth Sciences, but he also was also able to pursue a successful ski career at the highest levels. Chodounsky says that he is happy that he went the full four years, and he felt that he was able to go “all-in” on skiing after a double major of earth sciences and engineering. The rare American college racer, who was able to take full advantage of the college system, get his degree, and construct World Cup success.

“I hope that I have brought perspective, that you can use college as a developmental system,” Chodounsky said.

He added that college racing brought him a different perspective after years of grinding.

“I was able to get stronger and ready to go to the international scene. I was also having fun ski racing, while a lot of guys were grinding on the U.S. Team in Europa Cups,” he said.

Chodounsky embodies the dream of American success. He is the son of parents who emigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1980, and 28 years later, after stops at Buck Hill and Crested Butte, their son met the President of the United States when he was part of the NCAA winning ski team in 2008. Winning the NCAA Championship was one of the best memories of his career. The joy of winning as a team and bringing a championship to Dartmouth stand out in a head full of memories. It’s hard to imagine now, but even his College skiing success was not a given, David scored the last recruit spot given by Dartmouth Men’s Coach Peter Dodge as he filled out his team for 2005 season. The previous year, Dodge had taken notice of his skiing but felt that Chodounsky needed another season under his belt before he would be ready for the college circuit. After a post-graduate season, and winning the final spot, Chodounsky attended Dartmouth and his skiing started to take off.

Dartmouth had a strong team and spots were scarce, but Dodge told me that Chodounsky “bought into the plan” and after fighting to make the Carnival Team, he showed rapid improvement. After a number of strong results on the Eastern Carnival circuit he won the 2005 NCAA slalom title his freshman year. After graduating from Dartmouth, he needed to crack the top 60 in the world to qualify for the U.S. Team, and he won the U.S. Nationals slalom and made top 60 by a narrow margin. There were ebbs and flows to his career, but for the last five years he ended each season as the best-ranked slalom skier from the U.S., and there is no disputing his speed. In a career mostly by slalom success including four National Championships, it is interesting that one of his best memories is finishing 17th in GS in front of an ecstatic crowd in the Beaver Creek.