Ian Edmondson (born April 19, 1957 in Flint , Michigan ) is a former American freestyle skier . He specialized in the no longer performed discipline ballet (acro) . He was the last world champion in this discipline in 1999 at the age of 41. He won the discipline classification once in the World Cup and eleven individual competitions. Since the end of his career he has been active as a visual artist .
Originally from Grand Rapids , Edmondson began his career in the 1970s, when all three freestyle disciplines were still played together, but then specialized in ballet. In the first season of the Freestyle Skiing World Cup he finished second behind his teammate Bob Howard and was fifth in the discipline ranking. In the following winter he missed the start and fell back to twelfth place in the ranking. He achieved his first World Cup victory in January 1982 in Calgary and with four more victories of the season he secured himself the win of the discipline classification. Then he resigned.
After a break of more than ten years, Edmondson, now 35, made his World Cup comeback in Tignes in December 1992 . His first podium finish after returning to top-class sport was in Lake Placid in January 1993 , and at his first world championships in Zauchensee he did not get past 15th place. In the years to come, he achieved numerous podium finishes, but with his classic performances he had to bow to younger competitors every time. At the 1997 World Championships , he won the silver medal behind Fabrice Becker . In March of the same year he celebrated his first victory in almost 15 years in Meiringen . In February 1999 he was crowned the last world champion in the ballet discipline in Meiringen. On January 21, 2000, he set a world record in Heavenly when he became the oldest winner in the Freestyle World Cup at the age of 42 years and 277 days. Six weeks later he also won the very last Ballet World Cup in Ovindoli .
United States
