David Wise is aiming to add another accomplishment to his already epic career as the Reno native will soon begin his attempt to reach a fourth Olympics this winter.
Now 35, the 2008 graduate of Wooster High School is the most decorated Olympic freestyle skier in history, winning the gold medal in the Olympic debut of men’s halfpipe at the 2014 Games in Sochi before claiming a second gold in PyeongChang in 2018 and silver at 2022’s Beijing Games.
Wise said he’s got one last run in the tank as he tries to finish his stellar career at next year’s Milano Cortina 2026 Games in Italy.
“I’m still here because I want to be not because I have to be,” Wise said from our Nevada Sports Net studio the day after arriving home from Team USA training in Austria. “I still love the sport. I still love the lifestyle. I love the ability to express myself on skis. I still have a few things left that I want to express on a pair of skis on a halfpipe. But I am at the point where I’m acknowledging this is definitely my last Olympics.”
Wise said he’s come to terms with his career nearing an end and doesn’t see this last run as bittersweet.
“I’ve already had a great career,” Wise said. “I’m hoping to end it with a banger.”
After spending Thanksgiving weekend at home, Wise will head to China for the first of four World Cup events that also acts as Olympic qualifiers. He must maintain a top-four standing throughout all four to make Team USA’s Olympic squad. Wise is the oldest of 20 skiers vying for a trip to the 2026 Games.
“The Olympic years really are a whirlwind,” Wise said. “You put four years of effort into preparing to hopefully make a team and then put on your best skills and abilities at the ‘O Show,’ we call it. It’s so much preparation, so much time in the gym, so much thinking about what you want do, preparing, going to Switzerland, going to Austria and then the timeline gets really short.”
A pioneer in the discipline, Wise said he was one of the first, if not the first, halfpipe skier to “treat it like a professional sport” with the amount of training and effort he put into his craft.
“I am going to the gym every day and I am going to worry about my sleep schedule and I’m going to stretch and I am going do yoga and I will do Tai Chi and I’ll do all this other stuff,” said Wise, who was 23 at his first Olympic Games. “I was probably the first one or one of the first ones in my sport that was doing that kind of stuff. Now, everybody does it.”
Surrounded by a team of 20-somethings he likely once inspired to hit the halfpipe, Wise admits he’s had to tighten up his preparation to protect his older frame.
“I will go out there and do my hardest tricks maybe one, two, three times because I know if I take a slam my 35-year-old body is not going to recover as fast as my 23-year-old body did,” Wise said. “My competitors will go out there and they’ll just throw themselves around all day long. Take advantage of that youth while you have it. I’m going to use the calculated methodical approach and hopefully still beat you at the end of the day.”
Wise will look to qualify for the Olympics at World Cup events starting Dec. 10 in Hebei, China; Dec. 17 in Copper Mountain, Colorado; Dec. 31 in Calgary, Alberta; and Jan. 6 in Aspen, Colorado. The Milan Cortina Games take place February 6-22 and air on NBC.
Watch our interview with David Wise below and browse some photos from throughout his career above.