Russel celebrated his first World Cup successes with two wins in the 1968 season . After Jean-Claude Killy resigned after the 1968 Winter Olympics , he became the new idol of the French national ski team. With modernized technology, he dominated the world cup races in slalom and giant slalom. He won 13 races within three years, and achieved a place on the podium in a further twelve races. In the 1969/70 season , as in the previous year , he won the Slalom World Cup and only missed winning the overall World Cup by three points. In the 1970/71 season he secured the World Cup in giant slalom.
In the major championships, Russel only won two silver medals in slalom and in combination at the World Ski Championships in 1970 , with the combination gold medal being awarded 43rd place, over 9 seconds behind the winner Bernhard Russi. An Olympic success was denied him. Three weeks before the start of the 1972 Winter Olympics , he fell on January 10th at the Berchtesgaden World Cup giant slalom against the bales of straw in the finish area and broke his lower leg.
After his recovery, he briefly returned to the French national ski team, but was soon (early December 1973) together with other top runners ( Jean-Noël Augert , Henri Duvillard , Roger Rossat-Mignod , Britt and Ingrid Lafforgue ) from coach George Joubert Team excluded, which meant that in French skiing, especially in the men's team, there were no successes for many years.
After the end of his sporting career, Russel was hired as a promoter and technical advisor by the operating company of the newly built Les Arcs ski resort .
France
