Konrad Bartelski

The son of a Polish father, who joined the British Royal Air Force in World War II, and an English mother, Konrad Bartelski was born in London but grew up in the Netherlands where his father worked as a pilot for the airline KLM.

He learnt to ski on family holidays to Austria and made his Olympic début at the young age of 17 in 1972. Bartelski competed at three Olympic Winter Games for Great Britain although a disagreement with British selectors meant he had a brief period representing the Netherlands in the mid-70s. In 1981 he became the first British male skier to earn a podium position in a FIS World Cup race when he finished second in the downhill at Val Gardena. If he hadn’t made a mistake in the last 100 metres he may well have won. Although he had a number of top 15 finishes in following races, he could never recreate this success and retired in 1983.

He worked as a journalist and broadcaster following his retirement from active competition and became a senior selector for the British skiing team.