Press kit

For editors and producers: a short biography, facts checked against the record, and photographs in print resolution. The text and the Jan Farrell Media photographs may be reproduced with credit. TamTam Photo images are for editorial use with the credit shown. Questions to jf {at} janfarrell.com.

Biography

Jan Farrell is a British-Spanish investor and speed skier who lives between Madrid and London. He is group chief executive of Brethil Investment, and chairman of Liberalia, the company he founded in 2002, aged 18, and sold to the Anovo Group. He chairs the Francis Bacon Debate Society and has written on frontier AI in the Financial Times. On skis he was FIS Speed Ski World Cup champion in 2014 and has been timed at 231.66 km/h, the fastest by a Briton since 2005.

Facts

Born in Lancaster, England, in 1983, to a Czech mother and an English father. In Spain since the age of five.
FIS Speed Ski World Cup champion, 2014, Speed 2 category.
Personal best 231.66 km/h (Vars, 2015): the fastest by a Briton since 2005, and the third fastest Briton ever.
World indoor speed skiing record, 104.956 km/h, set in 2015.
Retired in 2021 ranked 5th in the world. Returned to the World Cup circuit part time in the 2022/23 season. 27th at the 2025 World Championships, Vars.
Films on YouTube with 17 million views.
The Francis Bacon Debate Society has sat at the House of Lords and Middle Temple. Details on the Debates page.
Adjunct professor of entrepreneurship, IE Business School, Madrid.

Photographs

Click any photograph for the print-resolution file. More are available on request at jf {at} janfarrell.com.

Jan Farrell in a grey suit, speaking at an event — Speaking at an event, Madrid. Photo: Jan Farrell Media.

Jan Farrell head-on in a full tuck at speed on the Vars track — At speed on the Vars track. Photo: TamTam Photo.

Jan Farrell in a tuck passing the Vars finish banner — At the finish, Vars. Photo: TamTam Photo.

Jan Farrell in a full tuck on the Vars speed track, mountains behind — On the Vars track, 2023. Photo: TamTam Photo.

Jan Farrell carrying two pairs of skis between runs at Vars — Between runs, Vars. Photo: TamTam Photo.

Jan Farrell carrying his speed skis at Vars — Vars, 2020. Photo: TamTam Photo.

Jan Farrell in Great Britain team kit below the finish-area sign at Vars — World Championships, Vars, 2025. Photo: Jan Farrell Media.

Selected coverage

2026 El Mundo, in print: the first speed ski descent in the Sierra de Guadarrama. The page.
2022 CNN: “Lost Sports of the Winter Olympics”.
2018 Financial Times: “Speed skiing: too fast for the Olympics”.
2015 The New York Times, in print: on testing the Dainese D-air airbag. The page, and the front page.
2015 Fuera de Serie, Expansión: “El Hombre Bala”, the cover. The cover.
2015 The Independent, in print: “Speed skiing starts at 120mph - anything less is just skiing”. The page.

The complete archive is on the speed skiing page.