Jean-Claude Killy - Post-Olympic Career

Post-Olympic Career

In May 1968, Killy signed with International Management Group, the sports management firm headed by Mark McCormack. After racing on Dynamic VR17 skis during the part of his career when he was dominant, Killy signed a deal with Head Skis in early 1969 to endorse a metal and fiberglass ski named for him, the Killy 800. Head, which was acquired by AMF later that year, manufactured a line of Killy skis for at least two years.

Killy also became a spokesman for Schwinn bicycles and Chevrolet automobiles; the latter, a role detailed by journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his 1970 article "The Temptations of Jean-Claude Killy" for Scanlan's Monthly.

Killy starred as a ski instructor in the 1972 crime movie Snow Job, released in the UK as The Ski Raiders, and US TV as The Great Ski Caper. American children in the early 1970s knew Killy from a TV commercial where he introduces himself, his thick accent making his name into "Chocolate Kitty." Killy played himself in the 1983 movie Copper Mountain: A Club Med Experience, starring Jim Carrey and Alan Thicke, set at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

Although Killy did not compete in the 1972 Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, he was a celebrity guest, and used a classic stiff-arm fend to knock a 5'-2", 17-year-old female American exchange student from out of the path of his entourage, into a snowbank.

Jean-Claude Killy also had a short career as a racing driver between 1967 and 1970, participating in the Paris Dakar Rally. In team with fellow Frenchman Bernard Cahier, Killy was 7th overall in the 1967 Targa-Florio in a Porsche 911 S.

In November 1972, Killy came out of ski racing retirement at age 29 to compete on the pro circuit in the U.S. for one season. After a spirited challenge from two-time defending champion Spider Sabich, Killy won the 1973 season title, taking $28,625 in race winnings and a $40,000 bonus for the championship.

In addition to trying his skill as a car racer, Killy made two television series. One, The Killy Style, was a thirteen-week series that showcased various ski resorts, and the other, The Killy Challenge, featured him racing against celebrities, who were all given handicaps. He was also sponsored by a champagne company, Moët & Chandon, which paid him to be seen with a bottle of their champagne on his table everywhere he went. In 1974 Killy, as part of this sponsorship deal was paid to ski down the previously unskied eastern slope of Mt Ngaurohoe (Mt Doom) in New Zealand. The average slope on this side of the live volcano is 35 degrees. A radar recorded his speed at over 100 miles per hour. He did this twice as cloud cover spoilt the first filming shoot.

Read more: Jean-Claude Killy – Three Gold Medals – Junior Johnson, Slalom, Wins, Ski, Johnson, Downhill, and Time http://sports.jrank.org/pages/2514/Killy-Jean-Claude-Three-Gold-Medals.html#ixzz11uboewfi

From 1977 to 1994, he was a member of the Executive board of the Alpine Skiing Committee of the FIS. Killy served as co-president of the 1992 Winter Olympics, held in Albertville, France, and as the President of the Société du Tour de France cycling race between 1992 and 2001. From 1995 to 2008, he was a member of the International Olympic Committee.

The ski area of Val d'Isère and Tignes in the French Alps was given the name l'Espace Killy, in his honor.

Jean-Claude Killy became Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur in 2000.

Intrawest credits Jean-Claude Killy with the design of a ski trail, "Cupp Run," at their Snowshoe resort in West Virginia.