- CA-AB-RK001
- Personne
- b. November 6, 1955
Kenneth ‘Ken’ John Read is a former alpine downhill ski racer and member of the Crazy Canucks from 1973 to 1983. He participated in the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics and the 1978 and 1982 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Read was the first Canadian and North American to win a men’s Downhill World Cup race, and the first non-European to win the Austrian downhill Hahnenkamm and the Swiss race Lauberhorn. In total, he won four downhill World Cup races during his career. He was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year in 1978, Canadian Male Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1980, a Member of the Order of Canada in 1991, a Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductee in 1985, a Canada’s Skiing Hall of Fame inductee in 1986, and an International Ski Racing Hall of Fame inductee in 2010. He and his fellow Crazy Canucks were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2006.
After his retirement, Read continued to contribute greatly to Canadian sport. He became a broadcaster with CBC TV Sports, launched the “Breath of Life” Ski Challenge to raise money for cystic fibrosis, served as President and CEO of Alpine Canada Alpin (2002-2008), worked with youth in the Alberta Alpine Ski Association (2008-2010), was named Winter Sport Director of Own The Podium (2010-2013), founded and chaired the Canadian Olympic Association Athletes Council, served as Chef de Mission for the 1992 Canadian Team to Barcelona, sat on the FIS Alpine Committee Executive Board (starting 1998), and more. He currently resides in Calgary, where he grew up.