Konrad Bartelski was born on 27 May 1954 and is a former British alpine ski racer who produced the then best result by a Briton on the Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit in 1981 by coming within 0.11 seconds of winning a World Cup downhill race at Val Gardena.
14 Facts About Konrad Bartelski
2.
Konrad Bartelski competed at his first Olympics at the 1972 Winter Games in Sapporo at the age of just 17.
3.
Konrad Bartelski failed to feature in the top placings for the next five years until finishing 12th at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
4.
Konrad Bartelski stunned the skiing world during his performance at the World Cup at Val Gardena, Italy on 13 December 1981 when he finished the downhill in 2 minutes 07.52 seconds, just 0.11 behind the race winner Austria's Erwin Resch.
5.
British television viewers began to tune in more regularly to Ski Sunday each week to follow the performances of a surprise hero, but Konrad Bartelski failed to improve on his biggest result.
6.
Konrad Bartelski finished 7th in Schladming in February 1982 and had a 13th place and two 15th-place finishes during that winter season.
7.
Konrad Bartelski ended the season ranked 19th in the World Cup standings.
8.
Towards the end of his career, Konrad Bartelski began to make appearances in the commentary box for Ski Sunday on BBC television, the programme which gained him his fame in his home country.
9.
Konrad Bartelski worked for Sky Television on the Ford Ski Report and Great Escapes and for BBC Radio Five Live and several broadsheet UK newspapers including The Guardian, Daily Mail, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times and The Times.
10.
Konrad Bartelski is the son of a Polish father and English mother.
11.
Konrad Bartelski was educated in the Netherlands and speaks fluent German and Dutch.
12.
Konrad Bartelski is married to Shauna with a grown up daughter, Sophie.
13.
Konrad Bartelski is a charity worker: since 1997 he has been involved with Back Up, a charity helping people paralysed through spinal cord injury, serving terms as President and Chairman.
14.
Konrad Bartelski is Chairman of Selectors for the British Ski and Snowboard Federation, and a fund-raiser for Christies' British Ski Team Appeal Auction.