Ken Read
Ken Read 
|
|||||||||||
| Full name | Kenneth John Read | ||||||||||
| nation |
 Canada
|
||||||||||
| birthday | 6th November 1955 (age 64) | ||||||||||
| place of birth | Ann Arbor , United States | ||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discipline | Downhill , combination | ||||||||||
| status | resigned | ||||||||||
| End of career | March 1983 | ||||||||||
| Placements in the Alpine Ski World Cup | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Kenneth John "Ken" Read (born November 6, 1955 in Ann Arbor , Michigan ) is a retired Canadian ski racer . He was particularly successful in downhill runs .
biography
Read grew up in Calgary . He started skiing at the age of three and entered a competition for the first time when he was eight. In the 1970s he formed the so-called Crazy Canucks together with Jim Hunter , Dave Irwin , Dave Murray and Steve Podborski .
On December 7, 1975 Read won his first World Cup race with the descent in Val-d'Isère . This was also the first victory of a North American runner in a descent in the history of the World Cup. Two months later he was fifth in the downhill at the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck . The victory in Val-d'Isère was followed by four more victories, the last one in January 1980 in Wengen .
On January 6, 1979, Read won the descent from Morzine with 0.45 seconds ahead of his compatriot Steve Podborski , but this success was denied because his racing suit - after an inspection in Bern - was only half as breathable as in the regulations required; thus Podborski was awarded the victory and everyone else in the classification moved up one rank.
The 1979/80 season was his most successful season with two wins and second place in the Downhill World Cup (behind Peter Müller ). In his last active racing season 1982/83, he still achieved second place in Val-d'Isère and third in Kitzbühel .
In 1978 Read received the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's Sportsman of the Year, and in 1991 the Order of Canada . From 2002 to 2008 he was President of the Canadian Ski Association. His son Erik Read , born in 1991 , also became a ski racer.
successes
Olympic games
- Innsbruck 1976 : 5th departure
World championships
- Innsbruck 1976: 5th departure
- Schladming 1982 : 14th descent
World Cup ratings
| season | total | Departure | combination | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| space | Points | space | Points | space | Points | |
| 1974/75 | 49. | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| 1975/76 | 24. | 34 | 9. | 28 | 11. | 6th |
| 1976/77 | 58. | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| 1977/78 | 11. | 47 | 4th | 56 | - | - |
| 1978/79 | 22nd | 61 | 4th | 75 | - | - |
| 1979/80 | 11. | 79 | 2. | 79 | - | - |
| 1980/81 | 38. | 42 | 12. | 42 | - | - |
| 1981/82 | 17th | 65 | 6th | 65 | - | - |
| 1982/83 | 23. | 76 | 8th. | 69 | 26th | 7th |
World Cup victories
Read achieved 14 podiums, including 5 wins:
| date | place | country | discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7th December 1975 | Val d'Isère | France | Departure |
| February 11, 1978 | Morzine | France | Departure |
| December 10, 1978 | Schladming | Austria | Departure |
| January 12, 1980 | Kitzbühel | Austria | Departure |
| January 18, 1980 | Wengen | Switzerland | Departure |
More Achievements
Read won six Canadian championship titles :
- Departed 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980
- Combination 1978
Web links
- Ken Read in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
- Ken Read in the database of Ski-DB (English)
- Ken Read in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Ken Read's World Cup victory in Val d'Isere (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brackets: " Things are looking up!" Arbeiter-Zeitung , January 8, 1979, accessed January 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Morzine: Read's victory denied. Arbeiter-Zeitung , January 9, 1979, accessed January 22, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Read, Ken |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Read, Kenneth John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ski racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 6, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ann Arbor , Michigan |