David Watson Ford (born March 23, 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian slalom canoeist who has competed since the mid-1980s and is still actively competing. He is Canada's most successful slalom paddler.

Career

Ford has won two medals in the K1 event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

he became the first non-European to win the World Championship title. Ford followed up with a World Championship silver in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. In

he also won the overall World Cup title in K1. He was named Male Athlete of the Year at the 2003 Canadian Sport Awards, and was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Ford has competed in five

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, earning a fourth-place finish in the K1 event in Athens in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. He had a sixth-place finish in the same event in 2008 in Beijing. Ford could not get a sixth appearance in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, as of his elbow tendons had ruptured prior to the qualifier, and with no time for the required surgery, countless injections were unable to produce an adequate result for him to paddle to his abilities.David Ford: Whitewater trailblazer
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World Cup individual podiums

¹ Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points

Personal life

On April 25, 2009, Ford married Canadian alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek. They have a son, Cooper.

References

*
Official websiteReal Champions profile
* 1967 births Living people Canadian male canoeists Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Canada Sportspeople from Edmonton Medalists at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships {{canada-canoe-bio-stub