Olympic Games Gold Medalist Athlete. Widely regarded as an innovative figure of downhill racing, he was considered by many as being the first to use the "deep tuck position", also known as the "egg position". Additionally, he was the first athlete to use medal skis. He earned a gold medal in the Men's Downhill event during the 1960 Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley. Born Jean Raoul Celina Andre Vuarnet, in the Northern African country of Tunisia, his father (an athlete who excelled at soccer) was a physician, young Jean moved with his family back to their native France in 1934. His parents divorced prior to his teenage years and Jean would be raised by his father. His association with skiing began prior to the age of three and at the age of eleven, he was sent to a private boarding school in Paris, as his father wished for him to follow the path to practicing medicine. He studied Law at the University of Grenoble, while acquiring and strengthening his skills as a skier. During this period under the tutorage of Georges Joubert, Vuarnet would go on to become Slalom, Giant Slalom and Downhill Champion of France. His success resulted in the two collaborating on a book titled "Ski ABC, Modern Technique" (1957). They authored a second book "How to Ski the New French Way" in 1967. He made his initial mark internationally, when he captured a bronze medal at the 1958 World Championships. After his Olympic experience, he served as Director of Morzine's Office du Tourisme. Additionally, he endorsed a brand of sunglasses, which eventually became known as Vuarnet Sunglasses. The last two decades of his life, he endured multiple tragedies. His wife Edith Bonlieu (who was a professional skier) and his son Patrick joined a cult which resulted in them taking their lives in a mass suicide in 1995. He remarried a woman who he was once romantically involved with decades earlier and remained with her until her death in 2012. He died from a stroke.