Decorated Canadian alpine skier Guay retires
LAKE LOUISE, ALTA. — Erik Guay is ending his career at the same hill where he won his first World Cup medal 15 years ago.
Canada’s most decorated alpine skier announced his retirement Thursday as skiers participated in their second day of training for this weekend’s World Cup downhill at Lake Louise. “Today is a bittersweet day as I close a chapter on what has been a significant part of my life; decades of striving to be the best ski racer in the world, representing my country around the globe, and being a member of an incredible team,” Guay said in a statement.
Guay said last month this would be his final ski season. He said he wanted to spend more time at home with his wife Karen and four daughters, who range in age from one to nine years old.
But the 37-year-old Montreal native decided to accelerate that timeline after he finished 69th in Wednesday’s first training run with a time of one minute 51.36 seconds, which was 3.79 seconds behind pacesetter Christof Innerhofer.
A news conference with Guay initially scheduled for Friday was moved up to Thursday.
The three-time Olympian earned 25 World Cup medals and captured three world championship medals, including two gold, over his career.
He won his first World Cup medal when he took silver in a downhill race at Lake Louise on Nov. 29, 2003.
His first victory came in 2007 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he won the men’s downhill.
Guay won a coveted crystal globe in 2010 as the overall World Cup leader in super-G that season.
“He’s huge to the ski-racing community in Canada,” Canadian team skier Dustin Cook said. “I remember watching him as a kid.
“It’s definitely a loss for the team. We knew it was coming. It’s still a big hole to fill and big boots to fill for us. He has so much experience and leadership. It’s definitely a tough one for us.”
Guay competed in three Olympic Games, missing the super-G podium by 0.03 seconds in 2010 in Whistler, B.C.
While an Olympic medal eluded Guay, he won gold medals at two world championships, including the downhill title in ’11.
Less than two weeks after crashing spectacularly in a World Cup downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Guay won gold in super-G and silver in downhill at the ’17 world alpine ski championship.
Guay has dealt with knee and back injuries in recent years. He took the entire ’14-15 season off after a pair of surgeries on his left knee.
A back injury forced him to withdraw from February’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.