Golden teen Zak Carrick-Smith on following in Dave Ryding’s footsteps: My Youth Olympics title is a ‘jump forward’ for GB Alpine
Freshly-crowned Youth Olympics combined champion Zak Carrick-Smith shares with Olympics.com how he has been inspired by his mother, what he's learned from GB star Dave Ryding and what he envisions for his future.
Alpine Skiing
Can Great Britain become a powerhouse in alpine skiing?
Zak Carrick-Smith certainly thinks that his first gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024 is more than a historic milestone for his country.
The 16-year-old produced a sensational comeback in the men's combined, becoming the first-ever Brit to win a title in an Olympic alpine event.
“I think that gold medal really represents a jump forward for GB alpine skiing,” he told Olympics.com, hoping that his accomplishment will lay the ground for a new generation.
Carrick-Smith followed it up with a silver in the men's giant slalom before a second gold in the men's slalom event in Korea. He has been inspired by the rise of British skiers and says witnessing three of them finishing in the top 20 at the recent Kitzbuhel slalom gave him extra motivation.
“I was watching that race and I thought maybe I could do it. So I went on the next day and I won gold in the alpine combined,” he revealed.
Carrick-Smith inspired by his mother
Carrick-Smith has been living and breathing skiing since he was a little boy.
“I’ve grown up in France, in the Alps, which is just an amazing place. I started racing from such a young age, and I just fell in love with the sport at two, three years old. And right from then, I've just been skiing my whole life,” he shared.
Skiing is part of his DNA.
His mum Emma Carrick-Anderson, a four-time Olympian, relocated to Tignes after her retirement to work as a ski instructor and married fellow skier Phil Smith.
She also coaches Carrick-Smith along with his twin brother Freddy and his older brother Luca.
“She represents, like, a role model because it's something I want to do: I want to be in the Olympics and race for GB,” Carrick-Smith confessed.
“It's amazing because when we're on the mountain, she's a coach. And then after the race, she's a mum. Then, off the slopes, she's also a mentor. She's a bit of all three.”
PARK CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 23: Emma Carrick-Anderson of Great Britain competes during the first run of the women's FIS Ski World Cup Slalom at Park City Ski Resort on November 23, 2002 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)
Carrick-Anderson is part of the trailblazing generation of British skiers that paved the way in the World Cup.
Since then, Dave Ryding has taken the country to new heights, reaching the podium seven times on the sport’s premier circuit and even winning a World Cup race in 2022, the first Briton to do so.
“He is the top GB ski racer. We like to think of him as our national hero,” said Zak Carrick-Smith, who sometimes shares training sessions with ‘The Rocket.’
“He's an older racer on the World Cup circuit, so I think he’s got so much wisdom," continued the teenager. "He gave me advice about never giving up and just keep pushing because he started off quite old, and he didn't start off winning. And he just kept pushing, pushing, pushing until he won his first gold in World Cup for GB. It was all over the news and we thought he might get knighted for it because it was just such an amazing achievement!”
Zak Carrick-Smith on following in Dave Ryding's footsteps
Zak Carrick-Smith is hoping to emulate Ryding's success.
“I like to think of myself as humble and passionate, definitely. And I think I have a lot of determination,” he said.
Apart from skiing, Carrick-Smith is also interested in photographing and filmmaking, and likes spending time surfing with his brothers in Cornwall.
One of his most curious hobbies though is crochet:
“Back in 2020, during lockdown, me and my two brothers, were getting a bit bored in the house, so we decided to start crocheting,” he recalled. “We entered a class and really struggled at first, but then we slowly got better. And then we started doing it by ourselves, searching out patterns online, making massive toys. And then we thought, ‘why not make a little business of it?’ So we all started selling stuff and we made some money from that!”
Carrick-Smith is also a talented freestyle skier and diver and loves performing flips on both snow and water, well documented on his social media profile.
At the Youth Olympic Village in Jeongseon, he showed some impressive basketball shooting skills as well.
Zak Carrick-Smith's future goals
Ahead of Gangwon 2024, Carrick-Smith’s most memorable experience was being the forerunner at a World Cup event in Kranjska Gora. That was the prize for winning two races in a local international junior event.
Now, the young Brit is setting higher goals for himself: “My dreams are following the footsteps of Dave Ryding and my mother, as well as following in the footsteps of some of my top racing idols, such as Marcel Hirscher. But also just having and enjoying the journey,” he said.
So far, no British skier has ever won a medal at a major senior event, but Carrick-Smith believes that it’s possible if you follow Ryding's advice: “To reach the level of winning a medal in the Olympics or even the World Championships I think It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of determination. It's also needs a lot of funding, of course. But you just have to keep pushing, keep pushing and training hard. Then I think anyone can do it.”