The Vic Wild Snowboarder bio is quite a remarkable story. The parallel slalom rider who won double gold as a Russian in Sochi 2014 was actually born and raised in the US.
Underfunded and seemingly underappreciated in the US, Wild almost gave up the sport altogether in 2011, at age 24. His results were unremarkable and there seemed little interest or investment in him changing that. That all changed after he married his Russian sweetheart and achieved Russian citizenship.
| QUICK FACTS |
| Age: 28 |
| Stance: Regular |
| Nationality: RUS |
| Height: 179cm (5’10”) |
| Disciplines: Parallel Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom |
The Changing of the Tides
The first glimpse of higher honours to come came in the 2013 FIS World Snowboard Championships where Vic achieved Bronze in the Giant Parallel Slalom. So what turned around this rider’s career?
The US snowboarding association actually cut altogether the limited funding they were giving to alpine snowboarding after the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. So, with no alpine program at all he made the decision to move to Russia. And the rest, as they say, is history.
FIS World Cup Results
Bolded years below indicate when Wild competed as a Russian athlete
| Year | Location | Parallel Slalom | Parallel Giant Slalom |
| 2004 | Mt Bachelor, OR, USA | – | 36th |
| 2005 | Lake Placid, NY, USA | – | DSQ |
| 2006 | Shukolovo, RUS | 45th | – |
| 2006 | St Petersburg, RUS | 37th | – |
| 2006 | Lake Placid, NY, USA | – | 27th |
| 2008 | Sungwoo, KOR | – | 39th |
| 2008 | Gujo-Gifu, JAP | – | 18th |
| 2008 | Lake Placid, NY | – | 22nd |
| 2008 | Stoneham, CAN | – | 38th |
| 2008 | Valmalenco, ITA | – | 21st |
| 2009 | Landgraaf, NED | 8th | – |
| 2009 | Telluride, USA | – | 20th |
| 2010 | Kreischberg, AUT | – | 33rd |
| 2010 | Nendaz, SUI | – | 14th |
| 2010 | Stoneham, CAN | – | 16th |
| 2010 | Sudelfeld, GER | – | 16th |
| 2010 | Moscow, RUS | 33rd | – |
| 2010 | Valmalenco, ITA | – | 23rd |
| 2010 | La Molina, SPA | – | 8th |
| 2010 | Landgraaf, NED | 34th | – |
| 2010 | Limone Piemonte, ITA | 13th | 6th |
| 2010 | Telluride, USA | – | 18th |
| 2011 | Bad Gastein, AUT | 23rd | – |
| 2011 | Yongpyong, KOR | 30th | – |
| 2011 | Stoneham, CAN | – | 29th |
| 2011 | Moscow, RUS | 15th | – |
| 2011 | Valmalenco, ITA | – | 18th |
| 2011 | Arosa, SUI | – | 19th |
| 2012 | Carezza, ITA | – | 3rd |
| 2013 | Bad Gastein, AUT | 4th | – |
| 2013 | Rogla, SLO | – | 12th |
| 2013 | Sochi, RUS | – | 20th |
| 2013 | Moscow, RUS | 6th | – |
| 2013 | Arosa, SUI | – | 18th |
| 2013 | La Molina, SPA | – | 10th |
| 2013 | Carezza, ITA | 27th | 7th |
| 2014 | Bad Gastein, AUT | 1st | – |
| 2014 | Rogla, SLO | – | 5th |
| 2014 | Sudelfeld, GER | – | 8th |
| 2014 | Carezza, ITA | – | 8th |
| 2014 | Montafon, AUT | 7th | – |
O.k. so that was a long winded way to illustrate just how much Vic was able to improve after switching to Russia. 🙂
The fast way is to say that in the 14 world cups since racing for Russia, Vic achieved 9 top ten finishes (64% of races) and in the 14 world cups prior to that he finished in the top ten just twice (14%).
FIS World Championship Results
| Year | Location | Parallel Slalom | Parallel Giant Slalom |
| 2011 | La Molina, Spain | 18th | 10th |
| 2013 | Stoneham, Canada | 18th | BRONZE |
On To Greater Honours
Perhaps not even Vic himself would have seen what was to come next. Having not even competed in the 2010 Olympics he went on to win not one, but 2 Gold Medals in the 2014 Sochi Olympics!
It just goes to show what someone can do with a lot of determination and a bit of support and funding. And credit to Vic he seems to hold no ill will towards the US – I’m sure he’s just stoked he was able to continue to compete in the sport he loved – oh yeah…..and to reach the absolute pinnacle of it!
Breaking New Ground
Wild was the first US born athlete to compete as a Russian in a Winter Olympics. He was also the first Russian man to win an Olympic snowboarding medal!
Vic’s wife Alena Zavarzina is also a snowboarder and won a bronze medal in the same Olympics (in fact within minutes of Vic winning one of his) – now that’s a couple with a lot of success.
Not everyone agrees with Wild’s decision to compete for Russia but I say good on him. He had the choice to be passive and give up the sport he loved or to grab life by the horns and find a way to keep competing. He chose the latter and well, few would now argue that it was the right choice.
Recent events
Since those remarkable victories his only major tournament, at time of writing, has been the word cup event in Italy and Austria where he finished 7th and 8th in the parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom respectively. Those events were held 16th and 18th December (2014).
What Does the Future Hold?
Since competing for Russia he has achieved some remarkable success. It will be interesting to see how he continues to perform as the rest of his career unfolds.
He is great
Hi Nate. This is a great post! I don’t follow snowboarding much but what I can say is that you have done a thorough profile check of Vic Wild! I enjoyed reading it! Cheers! 😀
Hey Srijan – thanks for your input and your kind words. Glad you enjoyed reading about Vic.
Great article! I can’t blame the guy for wanting to move on to someplace where he could shine. It is great he has been able to achieve so much. Sometimes people just need some encouragement.
Hey Amanda – thanks for the comments. Definitely agree that it was a good move. Encouragement, technical coaching, good training facilities I imagine were all factors in his turn around. A bit of extra motivation in there potentially too!
I had the opportunity to get on a snowboard a few times when I was in high school and remember how hard it was. I can’t help but appreciate the hard word guys like Vic go thru to train for such an event. Great article, I really enjoyed the read. Cheers
Hey Dan – thanks for the input. Yeah it’s definitely gotta be a full on training for something like the Olympics – physically and mentally.
Very nice article. I don’t know much, or should I say anything, about snowboarding but I can appreciate his decision. Life throws us many curves. He chose not to give up. He chose to follow his love and his heart. How could he go wrong!
Hi Suzette – I couldn’t agree more. He could have given up his olympic snowboarding dream but found a way to make it happen. Thanks for your feedback!