David Ford

David Watson Ford (born March 23, 1967, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian slalom canoeist who has competed since the mid-1980s and is still actively competing. He is Canada's most successful slalom paddler.

Career

Ford has won two medals in the K1 event at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. In 1999 he became the first non-European to win the World Championship title. Ford followed up with a World Championship silver in 2003. In 2003 he also won the overall World Cup title in K1. He was named Male Athlete of the Year at the 2003 Canadian Sport Awards, and was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

World Cup individual podiums Total K1 5 1 8 14

SeasonDateVenuePositionEvent 1991 6 July 1991 Augsburg 3rd K1 1992 7 June 1992 Merano 1st K1 1995 1 October 1995 Ocoee 3rd K1 1998 2 August 1998 Wausau 3rd K1 2001 5 August 2001 Prague 3rd K1 2002 26 May 2002 Guangzhou 3rd K1 28 July 2002 Tacen 3rd K1 15 September 2002 Tibagi 1st K1 2003 11 May 2003 Penrith 1st K1 3 August 2003 Bratislava 3rd K1 2004 30 May 2004 Merano 2nd K1 2005 27 August 2005 Kern River 1st K11 2006 20 August 2006 Madawaska 1st K11 2009 3 August 2009 Kananaskis 3rd K11

1 Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points

Personal life

On April 25, 2009, Ford married Canadian alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek. They have a son, Cooper.