Jim Hunter (born May 30, 1953), nicknamed "Jungle Jim", is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former alpine ski racer who represented Canada at two

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, and won a bronze medal in the 1972 World Championships. He was a member of the Canadian Men's Alpine Ski Team nicknamed the "

Crazy Canucks The Crazy Canucks was the nickname for a group of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racers from Canada who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Jungle Jim Hunter (skier), Jim Hunter, Dave Irwin, Dave Murray (ski ...

", and is considered to be the original Crazy Canuck.

Biography

Hunter was born in

Shaunavon, Saskatchewan Shaunavon ( ) is a town in southwest Saskatchewan. At the junction of Saskatchewan Highway 37, Highways 37 and Saskatchewan Highway 13, 13, it is 110 kilometres from Swift Current, 163 kilometres from the Alberta border, and 74 kilometres from ...

, Canada, the son of a dairy farmer, and started skiing at the age of eleven having previously played ice hockey. Hunter had a reputation as an off-beat individual; he practiced his racing tuck position atop a rack he built and placed in a

pick-up truck Pickup(s), pick-up, or pick up may refer to: Film * ''Pick-Up'' (1933 film), a crime film starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft * ''Pickup'' (1951 film), an American film noir directed by Hugo Haas * ''Pick-Up'' (1975 film), an exploitation f ...

as his father drove at over , and tested his balance by placing himself in the wheel of a moving tractor and jumping out. Hunter joined the Canadian Men's Alpine Ski Team in 1970, and earned himself the nickname "Jungle Jim" with his aggressive style on the slopes. Hunter represented Canada at two Winter Olympics. At the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, he placed twentieth in the downhill, eleventh in the giant slalom, and nineteenth in the slalom. Although he didn't win an Olympic medal, the Olympic competition was also that year's World Championship, and the combined results were good enough to earn him a bronze medal in the alpine combined event. This was the first

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 in alpine skiing won by a Canadian male skier. At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, he placed tenth in the downhill, twenty-second in the giant slalom, and twenty-third in the slalom. Hunter placed in the top ten at seventeen

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 ...

events but never won a gold medal. He did reach the World Cup podium twice, a third-place finish in the downhill at Wengen, Switzerland in 1976 and a second-place finish in the combined at Kitzbuhel. Hunter retired from the Canadian ski team in March, 1977. He then competed as a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

on the World Pro Ski Tour winning the first ever downhill event held on the tour. In the run up to the Games of the XV Winter Olympiade, Hunter managed the 88-day Olympic Torch Relay from

St. John's, Newfoundland St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Amer ...

, across Canada to the games site at

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. Hunter hosted "The Jungle Jim Hunter Show" on

The Fan 960 :''CFAC also stands for Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae'' CFAC (960 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station serving Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a sports format branded ...

radio station. He is also a motivational speaker and provides developmental coaching for athletes and teams from Calgary where he resides with his wife and four grown children. Jim Hunter is an uncle to each of the Hunter Brothers, a Canadian country music group from Shaunavon, Saskatchewan.

References

External links

* * *
''Sword of the Lord''
NFB documentary about Jim Hunter {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Jim Living people 1953 births Canadian male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Alpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Saskatchewan 20th-century Canadian sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links