event Downhill Racer

In 1969’s Downhill Racer—director Michael Ritchie’s feature debut and his little-seen first pairing with Robert Redford—Redford stars as an innately talented small-town skier who behaves as if he’s already won a championship when coach Gene Hackman calls him up to replace an injured star on the U.S. men’s team. Redford’s entitled behavior seems tame by the standards of today’s athletes, but that just makes the film feel prescient. Redford looks and acts the part of a winner, though he has yet to prove himself. If Hackman, a skiing lifer often seen struggling to stir up any interest from potential sponsors of the then-fringe sport, wants his American athletes to establish a foothold in the European-dominated field, he has to keep his prize pony happy.

In 1969’s Downhill Racer—director Michael Ritchie’s feature debut and his little-seen first pairing with Robert Redford—Redford stars as an innately talented small-town skier who behaves as if he’s already won a championship when coach Gene Hackman calls him up to replace an injured star on the U.S. men’s team. Redford’s entitled behavior seems tame by the standards of today’s athletes, but that just makes the film feel prescient. Redford looks and acts the part of a winner, though he has yet to prove himself. If Hackman, a skiing lifer often seen struggling to stir up any interest from potential sponsors of the then-fringe sport, wants his American athletes to establish a foothold in the European-dominated field, he has to keep his prize pony happy.

In 1969’s Downhill Racer—director Michael Ritchie’s feature debut and his little-seen first pairing with Robert Redford—Redford stars as an innately talented small-town skier who behaves as if he’s already won a championship when coach Gene Hackman calls him up to replace an injured star on the U.S. men’s team. Redford’s entitled behavior seems tame by the standards of today’s athletes, but that just makes the film feel prescient. Redford looks and acts the part of a winner, though he has yet to prove himself. If Hackman, a skiing lifer often seen struggling to stir up any interest from potential sponsors of the then-fringe sport, wants his American athletes to establish a foothold in the European-dominated field, he has to keep his prize pony happy.