Charles Bozon

Charles Bozon
Personal information
Born(1932-12-15)15 December 1932
Chamonix, France
Died7 July 1964(1964-07-07) (aged 31)
Aiguille Verte, France
OccupationAlpine skier
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, giant slalom slalom, combined
ClubChamonix
Olympics
Teams2 – (1956, 1960)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams4 – (1956, 1958, 1960, 1962)
      includes Olympics
Medals4 (1 gold)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1956 Cortina Combined
Silver medal – second place 1960 Squaw Valley Combined
Bronze medal – third place 1960 Squaw Valley Slalom
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1962 Chamonix Slalom

Charles Bozon Jr. (15 December 1932 – 7 July 1964) was an alpine ski racer and world champion from France.[1]

Career

Born in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Bozon won a gold medal in the slalom at the 1962 World Championships, held at his hometown of Chamonix in a snowstorm.[2] Earlier, he had won a bronze medal in the slalom at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California,[3] and two world championship silver medals in the combined in 1956 and 1960. Bozon suffered fractured vertebra in the giant slalom at the world championships in 1958 and vowed not to compete again.[4] He did not compete in the Olympics in 1964.[5]

Death

Bozon died in 1964 at age 31 in a mountain climbing accident near Mont Blanc. He and 13 climbing companions were killed in an avalanche on the Aiguille Verte, a 4,122-metre (13,524 ft) mountain in the Mont Blanc massif.[6] The climbing party had reached an elevation of about 2,700 m (9,000 ft) when the avalanche occurred.[5] Bozon's father, Charles, Sr., had died on the same slope in an avalanche in 1938.[7]

Less than three months earlier, an avalanche in Switzerland claimed the lives of two noted alpine racers, Buddy Werner of the U.S. and Barbi Henneberger of West Germany.[8]

References

  1. ^ Bennett, Bill (22 January 1963). "Frenchman Charles Bozon dedicated ski specialist". Montreal Gazette. p. 23.
  2. ^ "Speedy French star wins world slalom". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 14 February 1962. p. 14.
  3. ^ "1960 Winter Olympics – Squaw Valley, United States – Alpine skiing" Archived 2007-08-19 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved on February 28, 2008)
  4. ^ "U.S. ski hopes are disqualified". St. Petersburg Times. 14 February 1962. p. 3-C.
  5. ^ a b "Alpine avalanche kills 14 climbers". Tuscaloosa (AL) News. Associated Press. 7 July 1964. p. 1.
  6. ^ "Snow slide in Alps kills 14 climbers". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 8 July 1964. p. 1.
  7. ^ "Avalanche kills French ski champ, Charles Bozon". Eugene Register-Guard. UPI. 8 July 1964. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Ski star killed racing avalanche". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 13 April 1964. p. 1.
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