Hudec gets green light to race for Czechs
• Jan Hudec will no longer wear the Maple Leaf on his ski suit after Alpine Canada gave him permission to race for another country Monday.
Canada’s governing body of ski racing approved Hudec’s transfer to Czech Republic, the country of his birth. The switch still requires approval from the international governing body FIS.
Hudec earned Olympic super- G bronze in 2014 for the first alpine ski medal won by a Canadian male since 1994. He’s been a member of Canada’s alpine team for 14 years.
The 34-year-old and Alpine Canada disagreed on terms for him to race in 2016-17.
Hudec, who underwent an eighth surgery on his right knee last month, was left off the 35-member squad announced earlier this month.
So he’s joining a professional team of racers from different countries. They will race World Cups next season under the flags of their respective countries.
Hudec said he felt Alpine Canada no longer saw him as a medal contender. “It was the feeling of not being fully supported ... when you feel that’s where you can be and you don’t have that, a certain level of the relationship gets broken down,” Hudec told The Canadian Press from the Czech Republic. “Obviously my first choice was to ski for Canada, but it was very apparent early on that wasn’t going to be the best road for me as an athlete.
“I hope no one thinks badly of me for making this decision. I was indirectly forced into a good decision for my career.”
Alpine Canada’s financial terms and other conditions made Hudec feel he was being forced to retire.
He was told to pay $ 35,000 in team fees — negotiated down from $70,000 — which was still $10,000 higher than anyone else on the team. Hudec also said if he wasn’t ranked in the top 30 by the end of this year, he would have to foot the bill for racing the rest of the season.
Alpine Canada countered that Hudec wasn’t willing to demonstrate post-surgery progress and fitness in supervised testing, although Hudec disputes that claim.
“We discussed with Jan certain conditions to ensure that he could successfully return to the World Cup tour as a podium contender,” Alpine Canada said in Monday’s statement. “This included a successful rehabilitation of his most recent knee surgery, fitness standards, World Cup performance benchmarks, and a financial contribution to the additional costs that would be incurred to support him on the team. Jan has been clear that due to his other personal and business interests, he cannot commit himself to the program structure of the Canadian national ski team.”
Born in Sumperk, Czech Republic, Hudec’s parents Jan and Vladi fled what was then Czechoslovakia in 1982 when he was a baby. The family eventually made their way to Alberta in 1986.
Despite an injury- filled career, Hudec has produced an Olympic bronze, a world championship silver in 2007 and five World Cup medals.