Sjezdař / Downhill Racer (1969)

From the small rural community of Idaho Springs, Colorado, Dave Chappellet has just joined the US men's downhill ski team, which has little respect from the traditional powerhouses from Europe as the US only has one seeded skier, Johnny Creech. Dave believes the team's head coach, Claire, is not looking after his best interest, such as not fighting to get him higher start numbers in races. Regardless of this and other external obstacles which Dave believes are the only things between him and the podium, he is able to achieve skiing success which leads to eventually being among that first seed with Johnny. Although Dave does ultimately win races, he DNF just as many, as he has an all or nothing approach. Conversely, Claire has a love/hate relationship with Dave, who he knows is talented and winning races will ultimately bring in much needed funding to the team as a whole, but his self-absorbed and arrogant attitude has alienated himself from the rest of the team and created team disharmony. Dave's attitude is borne out of his distant relationship with his farmer father, who does not understand why Dave is not pursuing a paying job, and an inferiority complex growing up without money like his teammates. That arrogance is also demonstrated in his personal life, in how he treats Lena, his girl back home, and how he pursues Carole Stahl, an employee of ski manufacturer Machet, who is wooing the American ski team to use his skis. Two years in Dave's journey is shown, chasing the ultimate prize of the gold medal in the men's downhill at the next Olympics.