Jan Hudec Jr. (born August 19, 1981) is a Czech-Canadian alpine ski racer who previously represented Canada until 2016 and specializes in the speed events of downhill and

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 ...

. Beset by injuries for several seasons, he returned to World Cup form in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

at age 30 and gained his second victory. At the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

, Hudec won the bronze medal in the

at Rosa Khutor. It was the first Olympic medal for Canada in men's alpine skiing in 20 years.

Early life

Born in Šumperk,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, Hudec defected in a homemade raft with his parents to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

while an infant.FIS Alpine.com
– Five things you should know about Jan Hudec – February 8, 2012. The family moved to Canada in 1986 and settled in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and its key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and educati ...

, where Jan Sr. was a ski coach. In 1993 the Hudecs, now a family of four with younger brother Phil, moved to Banff where both parents worked at the Banff Mountain Ski Academy.

Career

Hudec emerged as a World Cup downhiller in February

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 ...

; he won the silver medal in downhill at the 2007 World Championships in

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, followed up with a fifth place at Garmisch,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. That November he won his first World Cup event, a downhill in Lake Louise, but suffered a season-ending knee injury while training in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

two months later. In January

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 ...

, Hudec had a comeback at the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, where he finished eighth, but three weeks later an injury at the 2009 World Championships downhill in

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, ended his

season. In the following two seasons, Hudec battled injuries and had just one top-ten result, a tenth-place finish in March

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 ...

. His results improved significantly in the

season, which included his second World Cup victory in February at the

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

downhill in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, France. Later that month he ascended his first World Cup super-G podium as the runner-up at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. At the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Hudec competed in several events, and was twentieth in the downhill. Hudec next competed in the super-G and won bronze, tied with

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is an Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and List of Alpine Skiing world champions, World Championship gold me ...

. After the race he noted to local media that had buried a lucky loonie at the finish line of the race. Upon commenting he noted to

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

that "Who cares if it helped. That loonie is worth more than a buck now, I can tell you that." The medal was the first for Canada in alpine skiing at the Olympics in twenty years. Left off Canada's team for the 2016–17 season, Hudec competed for the Czech Republic at the 2017 World Championships and

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. In 2019, the native Welsh band 'Papur Wal' released a song commemorating Hudec's childhood and career. Called 'Yn Y Weriniaeth Tsiec' the song translates from Welsh to 'In The Czech Republic'. An upbeat indie classic, the song proved to be a hit in Wales especially among the indie music scene in the country which is spearheaded by the nations young people. Hudec was shown the song recently he described it as 'the best song I've ever heard' following on by thanking Papur Wal and expressing his love and gratitude to the Welsh people and Wales as a country.

World Cup results

Season standings

Top ten finishes

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

Videos

FIS Alpine.com
– Jan Hudec speaks Czech (with

Ondřej Bank Ondřej Bank (; born 27 October 1980) is a Czech retired World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Zábřeh na Moravě, Bank began his international career in 1995 when he first competed at the Junior World Championship. His first World Cup race w ...

) and talks about his roots – 2011-03-12
YouTube.com
– Hudec's winning DH run at Lake Louise – 2007-11-24
YouTube.com
– Jan Hudec wins at Chamonix – from Universal Sports – 2012-02-03

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

*

World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * *

– team – alpine – Jan Hudec
Alpine Canada.org
– national ski team – athletes – Jan Hudec {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudec, Jan 1981 births Canadian male alpine skiers Czech male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian people of Czech descent Sportspeople from Šumperk Sportspeople from Red Deer, Alberta Olympic alpine skiers for the Czech Republic Living people 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century Czech sportsmen