Sochi Olympics 2014: The Olympics’ Most Interesting Man

He was friends with Andy Warhol.

He has eight pop albums.

He is a real life prince.

He is a successful photographer who has had exhibits all over the world.

He speaks five languages.

He is Prince Hubertus von Hoenlohe and he is the most interesting man in the Olympics.

Von Hoenlohe is a Mexican skier and has been garnering worldwide attention for his flair and … well, he is the rare Mexican skier. As the photo above shows, he loves to show off his origins.

Thanks to dual citizenship with Austria and Mexico, von Hoenlohe represents Mexico in Sochi. He was born in Mexico when his parents were handling their family’s auto business (you may have heard of Volkswagen). He grew up in Austria becoming a pretty good skier while in school.

And, yes, he really is royalty. He is the Prince of Wurttemberg, a region that ruled parts of Germany until shortly before World War I.

Back in 1981, he founded the Mexican Ski Federation and has been Mexico’s lone Olympian twice. First, in 1984 Sarajevo and now in 2014 Sochi. He also appeared in the 1988, 1992 and 2010 Olympics.

He was the oldest Winter Olympics participant in 2010 at age 51. When he takes the slope on February 14th to compete in the Super-Combined Slalom, he’ll break his own record at age 55.

He has been known more for his style than his success on the medal platform. He once wore a bandito inspired ski suit complete with bandoleers and pistols.

This year he’s combining his love of music to his skiing passion. He is wearing a faux mariachi ski suit. He hopes to inspire more Mexicans to take up winter sports.

Listening to his music video, hopefully he can inspire more youngsters to follow him up the slopes than into the recording studio.



Brian Reddoch is a CraveOnline reporter and rabid fan of all teams Seattle. You can follow him on Twitter @ReddReddoch or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.

Photo Credit: Getty

 

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