John Kucera
 Kucera in December 2006 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | September 17, 1984 Calgary, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 176 lb – 80 kg | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Land |  Kanada | ||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Calgary Alpine Racing | ||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | November 27, 2004 (age 20) | ||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 1 – (2006) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 – (2005, '07, '09) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (1 gold) | ||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 6 – (2005–10) | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 1 – (1 SG) | ||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 3 – (3 SG) | ||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (13th – 2008) | ||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (3rd in SG, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Kucera (born September 17, 1984) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. Born in Calgary, Alberta, he races in all five alpine disciplines, focusing on the speed events of downhill and super-G. Kucera is a former world champion in the downhill, but has been sidelined due to injury since November 2009. Kucera's parents immigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1980.
Kucera made his World Cup debut at age 20 in November 2004, on home snow in Lake Louise, Alberta. Two years later, Lake Louise was the site of his first World Cup victory, a super-G race in November 2006. Three weeks later he made another World Cup podium with a third place finish in the super-G at Val Gardena, Italy. His next podium came two years later, a second place in the super-G at Lake Louise.
He won the gold medal in the downhill at the 2009 World Championships at Val-d'Isère, France, to become the first Canadian man to win the event at the World Championships.[1]
On November 28, 2009, Kucera finished sixth in the first downhill of the 2010 season at Lake Louise, but fractured his left leg in the super-G the following day. A compound fracture through his left calf, he missed the rest of the 2010 World Cup season and the 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler.[2]
Kucera returned to the snow a year later in late 2010, but has yet to return to World Cup competition. As part of his recovery, he has been a forerunner for a number of races in North America and Europe.[3]
As the son of Czech immigrants, Kucera is fluent in Czech and races on Atomic skis. His surname is pronounced kuw-cze-rah. John hosts the Matt and Eric show on JACK FM Calgary on Monday July 5, 2010.
World Cup podiums
- 1 win – (1 SG)
- 3 podiums – (3 SG)
| Season | Date | Standort | Race | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Nov 26, 2006 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G | 1st |
| Dec 15, 2006 |  Val Gardena, Italy |
Super-G | 3rd | |
| 2009 | Nov 30, 2008 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G | 2nd |
References
- ^ "Kucera wins gold in men's downhill at World Championships". TSN. February 7, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- ^ "John Kucera to begin rehab process following left leg injury". Alpine Canada Alpin. November 30, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
- ^ Toronto Sun.com – "Rebuilding World Cup skier John Kucera" – January 4, 2011.
External links
- John Kucera at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- FIS-ski.com – World Cup season standings – John Kucera
- Ski-db.com – results – John Kucera
- Sport Reference.com – Olympic results – John Kucera
- Eurosport.com – John Kucera
- Alpine Canada.org – national ski team – athletes – John Kucera
- Atomic Skis – athletes – John Kucera
