John Kucera

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

John Kucera
Kucera in December 2006
Born (1984-09-17) September 17, 1984
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
OccupationAlpine skier
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined
ClubCalgary Alpine Racing
World Cup debutNovember 27, 2004
(age 20)
Olympics
Teams1 – (2006)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams3 – (2005, 2007, 2009)
Medals1 (1 gold)
World Cup
Seasons6 – (2005–10)
Wins1 – (1 SG)
Podiums3 – (3 SG)
Overall titles0 – (13th – 2008)
Discipline titles0 – (3rd in SG, 2007)
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2009 Val-d'Isère Downhill

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. 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, causing him to miss 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. As part of his recovery, he was a forerunner for a number of races in North America and Europe.[3] He retired from competition at the end of the 2013-14 World Cup season.[4] As the son of Czech immigrants, Kucera is fluent in Czech. His surname is pronounced kuw-cze-rah.

World Cup results

Season standings
SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
slalom		Super-GDownhillCombined
200520100——515212
20062181——374924
20072223—1533822
20082313—10121731
20092424—5091913
20102599———34—
201126
201227
201328113——36——

Race podiums
  • 1 win – (1 SG)
  • 3 podiums – (3 SG)
Season Date Location Discipline Place
2007Nov 26, 2006Canada Lake Louise, CanadaSuper-G1st
Dec 15, 2006Italy Val Gardena, ItalySuper-G3rd
2009Nov 30, 2008Canada Lake Louise, CanadaSuper-G2nd

World Championship results
  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200520——25169
200722—12303132
200924—4461DNS2

Olympic results

  Year   Age  Slalom Giant
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200621——222717

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.
  4. "John Kucera retires and will pursue coaching career - FIS-SKI". www.fis-ski.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.



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