Sky Christopherson

About using the method, Christopherson stated, "When we arrived in Spain [to consult for OAthlete] we met a [US track cycling team] that was basically underfunded and only had one coach, while comparatively their competition were well funded and had experts staffed full-time: sports physiologists, psychologists, video analysis, you name it. Without any of this, we had to figure out how to ‘boot-strap’ additional support. We started with a genetic test for each athlete to provide context for the tracking and intervention strategies. What unfolded was amazing." The women's team broke a national record two weeks before competing in London and went on to beat the favored Australians in the semi-finals, culminating their run with a silver medal at the London Olympics.

Christopherson helped his women teammates prepare for the Olympics in Mallorca, Spain, including video analysis of the training which formed the behind-the-scenes content for the documentary. The team won an ‘underdog’ Silver Medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the inaugural Women's Team Pursuit. It was the first US women's track cycling medal in over 20 years.

The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival, the largest and highest attended film festival in the United States, and completed a full 40 event film festival circuit worldwide including a Great Britain premiere at the 2015 Manchester International Film Festival. The film won Audience Choice at the 2015 San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

In July 2012 The Financial Times revealed that several health technology companies, including OAthlete, have supplied Olympics athletes with devices intended to optimize their performance, in what CNN said some people were calling "the Twitter Olympics" and the "Data Olympics."

The Greater Meaning of Water, his first feature documentary, was released in 2010, and was given the ‘Audience Choice’ and 'Best Cinematography' awards at the Los Angeles All Sports Film Festival, and 'Best Spiritual Film' at the 2010 Amsterdam International Film Festival. He has a pending documentary, Personal Gold.

In 2010 he made a bid to return to the 2012 London Olympics, notable by his use of a ‘digital health’ model inspired by Dr. Eric Topol. The project was a subject of a TEDx talk Christopherson gave in Del Mar, CA, and a Quantified Self talk at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

It premiered as part of the 2010 Los Angeles All Sports Film Festival, where it won ‘Best Cinematography’ for feature film, and was voted ‘Audience Choice’ award for feature film. It also won 'Best Spiritual Film' at the 2010 Amsterdam International Film Festival.

He founded the real estate photography company Vicaso in 2006, and the biometrics and genomics health company Optimized Athlete in 2012. Optimized Athlete consulted with the 2012 women's cycling team prior to the 2012 London Olympics.

Upon retirement, Christopherson began attending UC San Diego, where he studied film and graduated in 2006.

In 2005, during his studies at UCSD, he founded Vicaso, a real estate photography service. Headquartered in Seattle, UCSD has stated "the startup was wildly successful, turning over $1.2 million in its first year." and over $6.5 million since. The company works with brokerages such as Prudential, Redfin, and Coldwell Banker, among others. It specializes in high dynamic range (HDR) photography.

In 2005 Christopherson began to work seriously in film, as a film producer, screenplay writer, editor, and cinematographer. He released his first feature film, The Greater Meaning of Water, to various film festivals in 2010. Executive producers included Louise Thompson, Adam Sumner, and David Christopherson. He also worked with writer J. Elizabeth Martin, and it was produced by Christopherson's film production company, Amorgen Pictures. Kirk Krack, of the documentary The Cove, also took part.

He continued training for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but after breaking his femur in a bike crash, decided to retire from competitive racing. He joined the Washington Athletic Club in January 2007, where he helped to create "the program that will be giving sponsorship to athletes training for the Olympics."

In 2000, Christopherson won the U.S. Olympic Trials in Frisco, TX in the 1000m and Team Sprint Events, and was named alternate to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Team allowed through new rules.

Following the Closing Ceremonies at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he proposed to his girlfriend Tamara Jenkins, an Olympian in flatwater kayaking.

He battled upper respiratory illnesses throughout the 1998 and 1999 seasons, developing walking pneumonia in 1999.

An athlete on the U.S. Cycling Team and alternate for the 1996 Olympic Team and winner of the 2000 Olympic Trials, Christopherson is known for breaking a World Record in 2011 in the velodrome sprint, notably using a ‘digital health’ model inspired by Dr. Eric Topol. The previous holder of the record, Steven Alfred, subsequently received a lifetime ban for performance-enhancing drug use.

Christopherson won his first national title in bicycle racing at age 19, beating a six-time undefeated cyclist in a controversial event at the 1995 US National Championships. His specialty was the 1,000-meter time trial, considered to be the most painful event in sprint cycling. Christopherson is one of five Americans in history to ride a sub 1:03.0 in the 1000m ‘Kilometer’ event. He was quoted "My blood was turned into battery acid...I would commonly ride that fine line of losing consciousness."

He was named to the U.S. National Cycling Team in 1995 following a win of two national titles at the U.S. National Track Cycling Championships. Accordingly, he was made part of ‘Project 96’ to prepare for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The program included experimental ‘Hyperoxic' training using enriched oxygen at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Christopherson was named official alternate to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Cycling Team.

Sky Christopherson (born January 19, 1976, United States) is an American entrepreneur, Olympic Athlete, World Record Holder, and public speaker. He has been covered by Forbes, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Outside Magazine, The Financial Times, and other publications. In 2015 he was voted 5th nationwide in "Top 40 under 40 in Healthcare Innovation"

Sky Christopherson was born on January 19, 1976 to American parents, and raised by his parents in Tucson, Arizona in the United States. He had an early interest in both sports, film, and technology, using a Sears video camera to create 3D playback when he was eight years old.