Dave Ryding was too tired to party after skiing to Britain’s first gold medal in the history of the Alpine World Cup.
Less than a fortnight before the Winter Olympics he pocketed €100,000 for winning the biggest event on the slalom calendar.
It should have sparked wild celebrations from a Lancastrian who learned to ski on a dry slope and simply refers to himself in his social media bio as ‘British disco dancer’.
But the emotion at the foot of the Ganslernhang slope at Kitzbühl proved too much for the 35-year old, the oldest ever winner of a men’s World Cup slalom.
“I’m too old for a big celebration, I’m absolutely shattered!” he said. “So, no, I won’t be changing my bio to World Cup winner. Old Fart more like.”
Perhaps, but the guy who grew up imagining himself as a geography teacher now heads to Beijing as one of the favourites for Olympic gold.
No Brit has won an Olympic medal of any colour in downhill or slalom. Alain Baxter took slalom bronze in 2002 but lost it after testing positive for a banned substance, said to be from a US inhaler with different chemicals to the UK.
Ryding admitted: "You win a World Cup there weeks before the Olympics and it's natural for everyone to talk.
“Obviously the pressure and expectation will have ramped up, but my rivals now know I am a threat.
“Whatever happens I go home with a World Cup victory, I have achieved the first win for Great Britain ever. That can never be taken away from me."
Sixth after his first run Ryding produced a stunning second descent as snow fell heavily on the Austrian mountain. His combined time of 1:41.26 seconds brought him victory by 0.38secs.
“There’s life in the old dog yet,” he said. “China is still a long way away but I’ll do my best to keep this old rig in tip-top shape.”
Crossing the line he looked up, saw his name in top spot ahead of Norwegian duo Lucas Braathen and Henrik Kristoffersen and screamed “Come On”.
Trainer Jai Geyer sank to his knees in the snow and sobbed: “He did it! He did it!”.
Ryding, Britain’s team captain at what will be his fourth Olympics in China, added: “I didn’t stop believing. I didn’t stop trying.
“Maybe if I grew up in the Alps I’d have won before but the way I did it I had to learn everything later. I wasn't exposed to all the mountains until I was older. But this shows that you can do it older."
Doing it the hard way only added to his sense of achievement but he added: “This life is not as glamorous as it looks.
“It sounds good, it looks good on TV but I’m in this hotel with just my bag with clothes falling out of it. I go from here to another hotel.
“Footballers earn more in a week than I do in a year. I’m not complaining though. My sponsors have always been there for me. I make a living."
