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 name is ...

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 ...

. 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 i ...

, 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 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

in downhill in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, as well as in the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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

Career

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, 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 The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

, and withdrew from the downhill 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 (; ) 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 Oberbayern region, which borders Austria. Nearby is Ger ...

, 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 is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

. Guay's performance in alpine skiing over the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

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, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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

Steve Podborski Stephen Gregory Podborski (born July 25, 1957) is a Canadian former World Cup and Olympic downhill ski racer. Racing career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Podborski started skiing at the age of two and a half at Craigleith Ski Club in Craigl ...

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. ...

. Guay struggled with knee issues during the

season, forcing him to miss events at both

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

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 t ...

. During the 2011 World Championships at

, Guay won the downhill 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

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

season. His victory at

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

in December was his fourth and the twentieth World Cup podium of his career, tying him with

as Canada's all-time leader. A week later he took third at

Bormio Bormio (, , ) 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 Valtellina valley, it is a popular winter sports resort. It was the ...

to take the career lead. This boosted Guay's hopes of achieving his dream of winning an Olympic medal. Going into

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, 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) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

tear earlier in January. He finished tenth in the downhill and missed a late gate in the

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

Kvitfjell Kvitfjell () 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 pistes. Based near ...

, Norway. Guay missed all of the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

season recovering from his sixth knee surgery. At the 2017 World Championships in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

, 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 W ...

. That weekend, Guay also placed second in the downhill 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 Seo ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, 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 N ...

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 List of cities in Canada, 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-Tremb ...

. 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) *24 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 for Canada FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions Canadian people of Norwegian descent 21st-century Canadian sportsmen