Greek-American alpine ski racer AJ Ginnis made history at the 2021 Alpine Skiing FIS World Cup in Flachau, Austria.
He is the first skier representing Greece to register World Cup points.
"Wow what a day for me and Greece 🇬🇷in Flachau! First ever WC points by a Greek skier and a huge PB for me with an 11th place. I cannot thank my sponsors enough for continuing to believe in me and for my team for making it all happen!" AJ Ginnis posted on Instagram.
"Thank you all for all your kind words and messages, and sorry for giving some of you a heart attack at the end there."
US Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey R. Pyatt sent his congratulations via Twitter: "Athens-born Greek-American AJ Ginnis, skiing for Flag of Greece today became the first ever Greek to win a point scoring position in @fisalpine professional competition!"
"Learned his sport at @SkiParnassos and also for @usskiteam and @dartmouth Another Flag of United StatesFlag of Greece success. Bravo!"
AJ Ginnis (born 17 November 1994) is a Greek-American alpine ski racer.
Born in Athens, Greece, Ginnis grew up in Vouliagmeni. He started skiing at Parnassos Mountain at the age of 2. His father ran a ski school.
He moved to Austria before moving to Vermont's famed Green Mountain Valley School, where he started to fine-tune his skiing.
In 2012, at the age of 17, Ginnis was named in the US Ski Team.
He made his World Cup debut on 22 December 2014 in the Madonna di Campiglio Slalom. That same season Ginnis won the bronze medal in the Slalom at the World Junior Championships in Hafjel, Norway and continued to climb the ranks by securing podiums and wins at the European - Cup, North American - Cup, and National Championship events.
During the 2016 - 2017 season Ginnis qualified to represent Team USA at the 2017 Alpine World Championships hosted by St. Moritz, Switzerland.
On 22 December 2016 he scored his first World Cup points finishing 26th in the Madonna di Campiglio Slalom.