Malcolm Milne

Who is Malcolm Milne?

Malcolm Milne is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Australia.

Born Beechworth, Victoria, and raised on the family tobacco farm in Myrtleford, Milne competed in his first Olympics in 1968 at Grenoble, France. In an era dominated by Jean-Claude Killy, he finished 24th of eighty-six starters, with a time only 5.51 seconds behind Killy. This was by far the best Australian skiing result in any Games to that point.

In December 1969 at Val-d'Isère, Milne became the first Australian skier to win a World Cup event. It was also the first podium by a racer from the southern hemisphere. It also made Milne the first non-European to win a men's World Cup downhill, a feat that is often attributed by Canadians to Ken Read, who won his first on the same course six years later in December 1975. Three months later, Milne captured the bronze medal in the downhill at the World Championships at Val Gardena, Italy, which also counted as a World Cup podium.

Milne trained with the French ski team in Europe, and won a United States title race at Bear Valley, California. He was expected to do well at the Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, but suffered a cartilage injury to his left knee which threatened to cause a withdrawal. He didn’t withdraw, and recovered superbly from a near fall which, cost him any chance of a place. He called the race "my worst ever", but team manager Dick Watson said that