Swiss skier to give half of his winnings to environment charity

In a rebuke to the president of the International Ski Federation, Olympic gold medallist Daniel Yule has pledged to donate half of his prize money from the next two World Cup events to fight climate change.

Last month, Gian-Franco Kasper, the Swiss president of the International Ski Federation had stated that he preferred dictatorships for ski events as there was unlikely to be resistance from environmental activists there.

He later apologised for any misunderstanding and claimed his statements were not meant to be taken literally.

The 26-year-old Yule, whose parents are British, made his pledge to charity Protect Our Winters on Instagram. He said he was “putting [his] money where [his] mouth is” after he had criticised Kasper at the world championships in Åre, Sweden, last month.

Winners of slalom World Cup events take home prize money worth CHF45,000 ($44,980) with the lowest amount of CHF500 going to the skier who finishes in 30th place.

AP/ac