Henri "Dudu" Duvillard (born December 23, 1947 in Megève ) is a former French ski racer . In the late 1960s and early 1970s he was one of the world's most successful athletes. He won six World Cup races in all three disciplines held at the time and was twice second in the overall ranking of the Alpine Ski World Cup . He is the brother of Adrien Duvillard and the uncle of Adrien Duvillard junior , both of whom were also ski racers.
Duvillard won his first World Cup points on January 29, 1967 when he finished tenth in the slalom in his native Megève . The first podium followed on December 12, 1968 in the giant slalom in Val-d'Isère . On December 15, 1968, he won with start no. 31, at the same place the downhill run, which is not part of the World Cup. A little more than a month later, again in Megéve, he achieved his first World Cup victory on January 24, 1969, when he started with start no. 30 decided the departure for themselves. As a result, he established himself at the top of the world in all three disciplines held at the time. At the 1970 World Cup in Val Gardena , however, he did not live up to the high expectations and only finished 25th in the downhill.
Both in the 1970/71 season and in the 1971/72 season Duvillard was second in the overall ranking of the Ski World Cup. Both times he had to admit defeat to the Italian Gustav Thöni . Even at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo , Duvillard did not win a medal: in slalom he just missed a podium finish in fourth, in the downhill he lost a lot of time and in the giant slalom he was eliminated.
The other highly favored French skiers also received no medals, which led to a spiteful press campaign. The ski association appointed a new trainer, Georges Joubert, with whom, however, many athletes did not get along at all. Duvillard was able to win a race in January 1973, but otherwise his performance remained rather average. At the beginning of the 1973/74 season, Duvillard and Patrick Russel and Jean-Noël Augert were removed from the squad for alleged disobedience and thus forced to retire.
In 1974 Duvillard moved to the USA and took part in the then popular professional ski tour for three years. In 1975/76 he won the overall standings and then retired from top-class sport. Duvillard has been working as a designer of ski fashion ever since. He is married to the former ski racer Britt Lafforgue , his father-in-law was Maurice Lafforgue .
France