Which French alpine skier won three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics?

Jean-Claude Killy was the French alpine skier who won three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Competing in Grenoble, France, Killy swept the men's downhill, giant slalom, and slalom. That clean sweep made him the most successful athlete at those Games and one of the defining stars of 1960s skiing. He was 24 years old and had grown up in the Alpine resort of Val-d'Isère.

Killy's Olympic triumph followed his breakthrough in the newly established Alpine Skiing World Cup. He won the inaugural overall World Cup title in 1967 and retained it in 1968, while also collecting discipline titles. His 1968 Olympic victories were therefore part of a broader period of dominance rather than an isolated performance.

Toni Sailer is a common mix-up: the Austrian also won three alpine-skiing golds, but at the 1956 Winter Olympics. Hermann Maier and Alberto Tomba achieved their Olympic successes in later eras and did not win this particular 1968 treble.