Jan Hudec Jr. (born August 19, 1981) is a Czech-Canadian alpine ski racer who previously represented Canada until 2016 and specializes in the speed events of downhill and super-G. Beset by injuries for several seasons, he returned to World Cup form in 2012 at age 30 and gained his second victory. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Hudec won the bronze medal in the super-G at Rosa Khutor. It was the first Olympic medal for Canada in men's alpine skiing in 20 years.
Early life Born in Šumperk, Czechoslovakia, Hudec defected in a homemade raft with his parents to West Germany while an infant.FIS Alpine.com – Five things you should know about Jan Hudec – February 8, 2012. The family moved to Canada in 1986 and settled in Red Deer, Alberta, where Jan Sr. was a ski coach. In 1993 the Hudecs, now a family of four with younger brother Phil, moved to Banff where both parents worked at the Banff Mountain Ski Academy.janhudec.com – bio – accessed February 24, 2012.
Career Hudec emerged as a World Cup downhiller in February 2007; he won the silver medal in downhill at the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, followed up with a fifth place at Garmisch, Germany. That November he won his first World Cup event, a downhill in Lake Louise, but suffered a season-ending knee injury while training in Switzerland two months later. In January 2009, Hudec had a comeback at the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, where he finished eighth, but three weeks later an injury at the 2009 World Championships downhill in Val-d'Isère, France, ended his 2009 season.
In the following two seasons, Hudec battled injuries and had just one top-ten result, a tenth-place finish in March 2011. His results improved significantly in the 2012 season, which included his second World Cup victory in February at the Kandahar downhill in Chamonix, France.Ski Racing.com – Hudec leads 1–3–5 Canadian showing in Chamonix – February 4, 2012. Later that month he ascended his first World Cup super-G podium as the runner-up at Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
At the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Hudec competed in several events, and was twentieth in the downhill. Hudec next competed in the super-G and won bronze, tied with Bode Miller. After the race he noted to local media that had buried a lucky loonie at the finish line of the race. Upon commenting he noted to CBC Sports that "Who cares if it helped. That loonie is worth more than a buck now, I can tell you that." The medal was the first for Canada in alpine skiing at the Olympics in twenty years.
Left off Canada's team for the 2016–17 season, Hudec competed for the Czech Republic at the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Winter Olympics.
In 2019, the native Welsh band 'Papur Wal' released a song commemorating Hudec's childhood and career. Called 'Yn Y Weriniaeth Tsiec' the song translates from Welsh to 'In The Czech Republic'. An upbeat indie classic, the song proved to be a hit in Wales especially among the indie music scene in the country which is spearheaded by the nations young people. Hudec was shown the song recently he described it as 'the best song I've ever heard' following on by thanking Papur Wal and expressing his love and gratitude to the Welsh people and Wales as a country.
World Cup results Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom Giantslalom Super-G Downhill Combined 2003 21 123 — — 44 — — 2004 22 116 — — 36 — — 2005 23 91 — — 45 37 — 2006 24 injured, out for season 2007 25 69 — — 29 31 — 2008 26 37 — — 24 13 — 2009 27 101 — — — 39 — 2010 28 102 — — 38 44 — 2011 29 75 — — 45 26 — 2012 30 16 — — 6 9 — 2013 31 35 — — 15 21 — 2014 32 34 — — 11 24 — 2015 33 82 — — 30 43 —
Top ten finishes 2 wins – (2 DH) 5 podiums – (3 DH, 2 SG) SeasonDateLocationDisciplinePlace2005Nov 27, 2004 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 7th2007Feb 24, 2007 Garmisch, Germany Downhill 5th2008Nov 24, 2007 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 1stNov 25, 2007 Super-G 8thDec 3, 2007 Beaver Creek, USA Super-G 9thDec 14, 2007 Val Gardena, Italy Super-G 9thDec 29, 2007 Bormio, Italy Downhill 3rd2009Jan 17, 2009 Wengen, Switzerland Downhill 8th2011Mar 11, 2011 Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 10th2012Nov 27, 2011 Lake Louise, Canada Super-G 4thDec 16, 2011 Val Gardena, Italy Super-G 10thJan 21, 2012 Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill 10thFeb 3, 2012 Chamonix, France Downhill 6thFeb 4, 2012 Downhill 1stFeb 24, 2012 Crans-Montana, Switzerland Super-G 2ndFeb 25, 2012 Super-G 5thMar 8, 2012 Kvitfjell, Norway Super-G 6thMar 14, 2012 Schladming, Austria Downhill 8th2013Dec 1, 2012 Beaver Creek, USA Super-G 10thMar 2, 2013 Kvitfjell, Norway Downhill 6th2014Dec 1, 2013 Lake Louise, Canada Super-G 10thDec 6, 2013 Beaver Creek, USA Downhill 7thDec 20, 2013 Val Gardena, Italy Super-G 2nd
Videos FIS Alpine.com – Jan Hudec speaks Czech (with Ondřej Bank) and talks about his roots – 2011-03-12 YouTube.com – Hudec's winning DH run at Lake Louise – 2007-11-24 YouTube.com – Jan Hudec wins at Chamonix – from Universal Sports – 2012-02-03
World Championship results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 2003 21 — — 7 — — 2005 23 — — — — — 2007 25 — — 7 2 — 2009 27 — — — DNF — 2011 29 — — DNF 25 — 2013 31 — — 12 9 — 2015 33 — — — — — 2017 35 — — 32 39 —
Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant slalom Super-G Downhill Combined 2010 28 — — 24 25 — 2014 32 — — 3 21 — 2018 36 — — DNF 45 —
References
External links
Jan Hudec World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
Rossignol.com – team – alpine – Jan Hudec Alpine Canada.org – national ski team – athletes – Jan Hudec