IT is not every day that someone you know creates sporting history and rewrites the record books.

For those of you who have followed my column you will know I have a close relationship with winter sports and the last few weeks have seen British athletes shine on the snow and ice of Europe. 

From the Bobsleigh guys I spoke about last weekend through to the winter para-athletes they are all showing that Britain can compete with the world in winter sports. 

However, one athlete did something that many in the ski world have waited for since the start of the FIS Alpine World Cup Ski races 55 years ago. 

Dave Ryding, a man I have written about before in these pages, became the oldest athlete to ever win a slalom world cup and in doing so became the first ever British skier to stand on the top podium. 

Inspired by Alain Baxter, Ryding has not just inspired a future generation of British skiers, but also showed a Brit can stand on the top podium. 

The world saw Dave create sporting history on the 22nd of January just as slalom racing itself was celebrating its 100-year anniversary, but Ryding’s win didn’t just happen. 

Dave’s mindset and his persistence are incredible. 

It would be easy to list all the attributes Ryding has as an athlete that resulted in him becoming the first ever British skier to win.

But for me Dave is just a good human with great values.

He has worked very hard every day since he first stepped onto snow in 2001 as a 14-year-old kid with a dream of breaking into the top 30 in the world. 

In the world of sports psychology, they say athletes can either be task focused or ego focused, although I’m not sure it’s quite as straightforward as that. 

Having known Dave since 2007 I can assure you, he is task focused, and maybe this is what gave him the ability to keep going when many around him gave up or retired. 

An athlete’s motivation is a heavily researched area - it can offer many insights into how they manage their wins and more importantly their losses. 

Maybe this is another gift in Ryding’s mental toolbox. His parents made sure he finished his schooling before pursing his skiing career. 

Behind every athlete there is a support team.

From family to coaches no athlete does this alone, and even though I didn’t cry watching Dave win, the emotion didn’t really hit me until the camera panned round and I saw one of his support team Jai Geyer on his knees saying “He has done it” 

This made it feel real for some reason. 

As the whole ski world - with such close links with Aviemore and Scotland - was going mad on social media, I was sat in the heat of Jamacia wishing I was in the cold of Austria to have seen what the team had done. 

It was also fitting that Alain Baxter was there as part of team Ryding.

There is no doubt that Alain brings an energy to the team and those guys have built something very special that many other sports could learn from. 

However there is one other man stood in the background. 

You will hear his name mentioned by those who know him on the commentary but he is very much a shadow.

He too has been on this journey since 2010 with Dave when they had no support and the two of them travelled Europe with a shared vision of trying to be better every day.

His name is Tristan Glasse-Davies and as an ex-racer himself has watched Dave ski every race over the last 11 years and for him this must have felt like a long time coming. 

I remember sitting in the team house in Switzerland last year having pasta with the guys and admiring what they had set up. 

Stripped back, it was like a group of mates skiing and traveling together. 

Now I know it’s a far cry from that and at times relationships would have been tested to the max, but the drive Glasse-Davies brought to the group was clear. Everything he did was to give Dave the best chance to ski his best. 

So, when Ryding stood on the top of not just any podium but the Kitzbuehel podium, it was a moment too for Glasse-Davies to remember for ever.