Erik Guay () (born August 5, 1981) is a Canadian former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing (cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. Racing out of

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for its ...

, Guay won the World Cup season title in

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

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and was the

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

in 2011, as well as in the

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. With 25 World Cup podiums, he is the career leader for Canada.

Career

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Guay was five when he competed in his first ski race, and when he was twelve his father, himself a ski team coach, took him for professional coaching. His first podium came in November

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, when he finished 2nd in a downhill at Lake Louise. He finished in second twice in 2005 in the super-G and third once in downhill. Guay suffered an injury two weeks before the 2006 Winter Olympics, and withdrew from the

but finished in fourth place in the

, missing the podium by a tenth of a second. He won his first World Cup race the following season at

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, Germany. He was the first Canadian to win a World Cup men's downhill race since 1994, and the first man ever from

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

. Guay's performance in alpine skiing over the

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season was enough to place him in third position in the final world cup standings. In

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, Guay achieved ten top-20 finishes in World Cup speed events but reached only one podium, a third. The

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

took place on home soil for Guay and he competed in three events in Whistler, where he narrowly missed the podium finishing in fifth place twice. Following the games, he achieved three straight podiums during March, including wins in the last two super-G races of the season, which enabled him to come from behind to win the discipline trophy in super-G in

2010 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. Guay became the first Canadian man to win a crystal globe for a discipline title since Steve Podborski in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

. Guay struggled with knee issues during the 2011 season, forcing him to miss events at both Kitzbühel and

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells ...

. During the 2011 World Championships at

, Guay won the

after not finishing the super-G earlier in the week. The win was Guay's only

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

medal, and the second consecutive Canadian to win the world title in downhill, following John Kucera in

. Guay continued to find the podium during the

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season. His victory at

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

in December was his fourth and the twentieth World Cup podium of his career, tying him with Steve Podborski as Canada's all-time leader. A week later he took third at

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellin ...

to take the career lead. This boosted Guay's hopes of achieving his dream of winning an Olympic medal. Going into Sochi, Guay stated, "I won't be satisfied if I don't walk away with a medal." An injury though threatened his ability to perform at his peak after suffering a slight

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: * Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity * Meniscus (liquid), a curve in the upper surface of liquid contained in an object *Meniscus (optics) A lens is a ...

tear earlier in January. He finished tenth in the

and missed a late gate in the

and was disqualified. The following week, he won a downhill at

Kvitfjell Kvitfjell ( no, White mountain) is a ski resort in Norway, located in the municipality of Ringebu. Developed for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, it is one of the most modern resorts in the world, with snowmaking on 80% of the alpine pist ...

, Norway. Guay missed all of the

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season recovering from his sixth knee surgery. At the 2017 World Championships in St. Moritz, Guay won the

event. At 35, Guay became the oldest World Champion ever, replacing incumbent super-G champion

Hannes Reichelt Johannes "Hannes" Reichelt (born 5 July 1980) is a retired Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. He competed mainly in downhill and super-G, as well as in giant slalom. Biography Born in Altenmarkt im Pongau in Salzburg, Reichelt made his Wor ...

. That weekend, Guay also placed second in the

event. Guay was unable to participate in the alpine skiing events at the 2018 Winter Olympics in

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of S ...

because of a back injury. Hours before Guay was supposed to compete at Lake Louise in November

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, he decided to retire from the sport after his teammate

Manuel Osborne-Paradis Manuel Osborne-Paradis (born 8 February 1984) is a Canadian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Osborne-Paradis grew up racing for the Whistler Mountain Ski Club. His first World Cup podium came in No ...

suffered a violent crash. He had already planned to retire after the end of the season but hastened his departure after hearing that Osborne-Paradis had needed an emergency airlift.

Personal life

Guay and his wife Karen have four daughters and they live in

Mont-Tremblant Mont-Tremblant () is a city in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, approximately northwest of Montreal and northeast of Ottawa, Ontario. The current municipality with city status was formed in 2000. Mont-Tremblant is most famous for it ...

. He is of Norwegian descent through one grandmother. Since 2009, Erik Guay has been part of the Tremblant athletes ambassadors program.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season standings

Race podiums

*5 wins – (3 DH, 2 SG) *25 podiums – (17 DH, 7 SG)

World Championship results

References

External links

*
Erik Guay
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * *
Alpine Canada.org
– national ski team – athletes – Erik Guay
Head Skis
– athletes – Erik Guay * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guay, Erik 1981 births Living people Canadian male alpine skiers Skiers from Montreal Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of Canada FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Canadian people of Norwegian descent