John Kucera

John Kucera
— Alpine skier —

Kucera in December 2006
Disciplines Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined
Club Calgary Alpine Racing
Born (1984-09-17) September 17, 1984
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
World Cup debut November 27, 2004
(age 20)
Olympics
Teams 1 – (2006)
Medals 0
World Championships
Teams 3 – (2005, 2007, 2009)
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
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Canada
World Championships
2009 Val-d'Isère Downhill

John Kucera (born September 17, 1984) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, he raced 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. His 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 results

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
slalom 		Super-G Downhill Combined
2005 20 100 — — 51 52 12
2006 21 81 — — 37 49 24
2007 22 23 — 15 3 38 22
2008 23 13 — 10 12 17 31
2009 24 24 — 50 9 19 13
2010 25 99 — — — 34 —
2011 26
2012 27
2013 28 113 — — 36 — —

Race podiums

Season Date Location Discipline Place
2007 Nov 26, 2006 Canada Lake Louise, CanadaSuper-G 1st
Dec 15, 2006Italy Val Gardena, Italy Super-G 3rd
2009Nov 30, 2008Canada Lake Louise, Canada Super-G 2nd

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2005 20 — — 25 16 9
2007 22 — 12 30 31 32
2009 24 — 44 6 1 DNS2

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom  Giant
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2006 21 — — 22 27 17

References

  1. ↑ "Kucera wins gold in men's downhill at World Championships". TSN. February 7, 2009. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  2. ↑ "John Kucera to begin rehab process following left leg injury". Alpine Canada Alpin. November 30, 2009. Archived from the original on December 3, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
  3. ↑ Rebuilding World Cup skier John Kucera Toronto Sun January 4, 2011.



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