David Wise [PHOTOS] What You Need To Know About The First-Ever Winter Olympics Skiing Halfpipe Champ

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter | Feb 19, 2014 04:42 PM EST

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David Wise seems to be a skier destined for greatness, as proven by his incredible Skiing Halfpipe win at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

David Wise made history after taking home the gold medal in the inaugural Winter Games event. and consequently got the entire nation and the world cheering for him the entire way.

But what do we know about skiing's new golden boy?

Well for one, it seems like he was born with a natural affinity for skiing. According to his parents, David Wise strapped on skis for the first time at the age of three when they enrolled him in the Sky Tavern Ski Program. But the simple solution to his parents being too lazy to babysit him turned out to be the first step into becoming the world-renowned skier he is today.

David Wise took to ice like to duck to water and soon joined his two siblings out on the slopes, skiing like he's been doing it for years.

Wise tried to follow his father's footsteps as a ski racer at first, but even at a young age, something called him into the air. Before he could learn the multiplication table, Wise was jumping off the roof with an umbrella and spending countless hours on the trampoline.

By age 11, Wise decided to pursue skiing a little more seriously and joined a freestyle ski team led by coach Clay Beck. There he found a sport that combined his passion for skiing and his love for being airborne.

After competing in his first Halfpipe and Big Air events at age 12, Wise never looked back. He earned his first Junior Olympic medal for Halfpipe and Big Air when he turned 13 and hasn't stopped raking in awards even ten years later.

In 2008, Wise started his professional skiing career with a series of wins and top five finishes, topped off with a medal in Superpipe at the 2009 World Skiing Invitational where Wise made skiing history by being the first ever person to perform a double corked 1260 in the Halfpipe.

He might seem like the coolest, wildest kid in the block when he's pulling complicated moves ten feet above the halfpipe but when he's not wearing skiis, Wise claims he's just like any other average Joe.

He's happily married and has an adorable two-year-old daughter. He's openly religious. On paper, he doesn't seem half as interesting and controversial as fellow skiers Torin Yater-Wallace or Aaron Blunck or Lyman Currier and next to them, appears like that nice guy you sit next to in church during Sundays. Wise doesn't project the kind of image his chosen sport often requires its athletes but he's accepted the fact that he'll always be a little old-fashioned compared to the rest.

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