Ken Read
Skiing Athlete - Inducted 1980
Ken Read was a member of the Canadian Ski Team from 1974 to 1980 and competed in two Winter Olympics. As a downhill specialist, he has been victorious in the Canadian Championships five times. Ken Read's fame spread when he won gold at Val d' Isere, France in December of 1975. He won two World Cup downhill races in both 1978 and 1980. His 1980 point total placed him second in downhill in the World Cup competition. Ken Read was named Canada's Athlete of the Year in 1978 and in 1979 he was recognized as Calgary's Athlete of the Year.
After Induction
Ken wrote a book called White Circus; the book is about his life from 1974 until 1983 during the Crazy Canuck years. He has been a sports commentator for CBC Television. He served as the Canadian Olympic Association Chef de Mission for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and was named president of Alpine Canada in 2002. Ken has served as a volunteer and an athlete advocate on numerous boards, councils and commissions. From 2002 until July 2008, he served as President of Alpine Canada. He was director of winter sports for "Own The Podium" from 2010 to March 2013. Ken was elected to the Board of Cross Country Canada in June 2013.
Awards and Honours:
1978 - Lou Marsh Award - Canadian Athlete of the Year
1979 - Norton Crowe Award - Canadian Male Amateur Athlete of the Year
1986 - Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
1987 - Canadian Skiing Hall of Fame
1991 - Order of Canada
1999 - Voted in the top 20 for Canadian athlete of the century.
2005 - Alberta Centennial Salute for Sport and Recreation Award
2006 - Crazy Canucks (Read, Irwin, Podborski & Murray) were inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
2010 - International Ski Racing Hall of Fame
Did You Know: Ken Read was the first Canadian/North American male to win a World Cup downhill; the Val d'Isere, France win also put Ken in the record books as the youngest male to ever win a World Cup downhill. He won five more World Cup titles, including the Hahnenkamm (Kitzbühel) and Lauberhorn (Wengen) in 1980. Ken was a member of two Canadian Olympic Winter Games Teams: 1976 (Innsbruck), and 1980 (Lake Placid).
