Sergey Ridzik Wiki: Skier, Net Worth, Bronze Medal & Facts To Know

Sergey Sergeyevich Ridzik was born in 1992 in Monchegorsk, Murmansk Oblast, Russia. He is a Russian freestyle skier. Competing for Independent Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, he won a bronze medal in the ski cross. Ridzik was an alpine skier but in 2011 moved to freestyle skiing. He did not qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics, and after the Olympics was seriously injured and could not compete for several months. On 15 December 2017, Ridzik won a World Cup race in freestyle skiing in Montafon, his only World Cup win by the time of the Olympics. Ridzik subsequently qualified for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in the Independent Olympic Athletes category and made it to the big final, where four athletes compete for the medals. In the finals, Ridzik crashed with Kevin Drury and they both fell. Ridzik managed to stand up and finish third, getting the bronze medal. Drury was subsequently disqualified after his collision. The athlete can speak only Russian language. Ridzik trained in the club Stolitsa Alpine Skiing School located in Moscow, Russia under coach, Talgat Sayapov on a personal level. Ridzik made his World Cup Debut - 2013 in Sochi, Russian Federation. Injury prevented him from competing at the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain. He returned to training in May 2017. He began alpine skiing at age seven in Monchegorsk, Russian Federation. He switched to ski cross during the 2011/12 season. Ridzik was previously an alpine skier, but he did not have enough funds to pay for his training costs. He then agreed to join the Russian ski cross team after being selected during a camp in Sochi, Russian Federation. The athlete trains for five hours a day while he is at training camps. He has received the title of Master of Sport in the Russian Federation.

Russia’s Sergey Ridzik had quite a memorable day on a particular Friday in Montafon in February of 2018, when he managed to take his first career victory and just the second-ever Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup victory for Russia. Ridzik did so in a very impressive fashion in the big final where he lined up alongside the current reigning Olympic champion and three-time crystal globe winner Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA), current ski cross World Cup leader Terence Tchiknavorian (FRA), and 20-year-old sensation Erik Mobaerg (SWE) on the podium. For all the athletes, getting a chance to stand on the podium is a dream come true and a dream for which they participate. To be able to get to the podium so soon in his career was indeed noteworthy for the Russian. Ridzik raced up his way through some tough territories on his way to the final, skiing throught strong lines but managing to staying upright on tricky Montafon course that confounded some of the day’s favorites. Canada's Brady Leman edged Switzerland's Marc Bischofberger to claim victory in the men's ski cross final. But Ridzik's bronze win was too good to be true for the Olympian. However, the gold-medal race wasn’t incident-free as Olympic Athlete from Russia Sergey Ridzik and Canada's Kevin Drury collided in spectacular style. It rendered a very interesting sight to the onlookers who were just praying that nothing goes wrong. Ridzik managed to get up again much to the joy of his fans. As they came over a huge jump, Ridzik fell and accidentally wiped out Drury. Staggeringly despite the horrorible crash, Ridzik was able to get up and finish third to take bronze medal. Thankfully Drury recovered from the fall and did eventually cross the finishing line, however, he was given a Did Not Finish classification. The spectators were thankful that none of them landed with heavy injuries. Leman's gold medal is Canada's third win from a possible five medal win in ski cross events at the Olympics. Interestingly, there was no French skier in the final, just four years on from a podium clean-sweep in 2014, Sochi Olympics. Ridzik and Drury’s crash was not the only accident during the men’s ski cross in Pyeongchang. In the finals he showed he meant business from the start, somehow airing the entire first feature and jumping out to an early lead while the French teammates and Mobaerg battled for position behind him. The guy was determined to win the podium right from the start and nothing, not even his horrible fall, affected him in any adverse way! His biggest moment likely came on the entry to the first banked corner, where Tchiknavorian looked to cut the inside line in a way that could have resulted in disaster. Ridzik, however, was able to hang on and to maintain his speed, sliding back into the lead and picking an unchallengeable line through the rest of the course. Russian fans on Monday gave gold medal-winning athletes a heroes' welcome home at the Moscow airport following games overshadowed by the country's doping scandal. Russia's team competed as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) and were unable to fly the national flag at the closing ceremony.

The net worth of the skier is currently unknown.