Ed Podivinsky

Edward "Ed" Charles Podivinsky (born March 8, 1970) is a Canadian alpine skier who competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter Olympics, and 2002 Winter Olympics. He was member of the 1992 Canadian Olympic (Albertville) team. He was injured in his last training run for the men's downhill event.

Personal Podivinsky was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He is of Czech descent. His brother Thomas died in a ski accident on February 16, 2014, at Whitefish Montana.

Biography Podivinsky was an Olympic bronze medalist. He competed for 13 years on the national team, captured a World Cup downhill in Saalbach, Austria. Ed was Canada's first world junior alpine champion in 1989. Before that, he skied as a forerunner at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. At 15, he was training with the national team. Former Olympian Carey Mullen recalled a Canadian alpine ski team race he and Podivinsky competed in as teenagers. Mullen, 16, came in 17th. Then 15-year-old Podivinsky flew into the finish area in third place, more than three seconds faster than Mullen. Although they started as rivals, the two became training partners and eventually friends. They both finidhrf 1-2 at a World Cup downhill in Saalbach in 1994. That set the stage for Lillehammer and Podivinsky's Olympic highlight. One of Podivinsky's favourite stories about reaching the podium in 1994 occurred soon after he crashed at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. That spill happened on the final day of training in Val d'Isere, France, and took him out of the race. Within days, he was in a Vancouver hospital recovering from reconstructive knee surgery. "I was really groggy and Dr. Pat McConkey comes into my room, opens the drapes and turns on the TV," Podivinsky recalled. "He said, ‘[Canada's] Kerrin Lee-Gartner has just won gold. I repaired both those knees. You'd better make it back as well.'." Podivinsky made it back for Lillehammer, Nagano (where he placed fifth) and finally Salt Lake City (24th), where he knew his career was done. After retiring at 31, Podivinsky entered the world of finance. While competing, he studied for his chartered financial analyst exams and would spend time on trading floors during the off-season. He is Director of global equity sales for Royal Bank of Canada and a father of four, all of whom are skiers.

Ed currently works in the institutional equity division at RBC Capital Markets.

Medals In 1994, he won the bronze medal in the Alpine downhill event.

Sports performance

Olympic Résulats Lillehammer in 1994, 23 years Skiing, downhill : 3rd place Alpine Skiing Super G: Abandon Skiing, Handset: Abandon

Nagano in 1998, 27 years Skiing, downhill : 5th place Alpine Skiing Super G: Disqualified Skiing, downhill : Abandon

2002 Salt Lake City, 31 years old Skiing, downhill : 24th place Skiing, Handset: Abandon

1995 Résulats of National competitions and North American 7th place, Giant Slalom, Stoneham / Le Relais, Quebec 5th place, Slalom, Stoneham / Le Relais, Quebec 1st place, Downhill, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec 3rd Place, Super G, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec 3rd place, Downhill, Whitefish, Montana 9th place, Giant Slalom, Whistler, British Columbia

1996 6th place Slalom, Le Relais, Quebec 6th place, Giant Slalom, Stoneham, Quebec 1st place, Downhill, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec

1997 3rd place Giant Slalom, Rossland, British Columbia 4th place, Downhill, Rossland, British Columbia 2nd place, Super G, Rossland, British Columbia

1998 1st place, Downhill Skiing, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

2000 6th place, Giant Slalom, Sun Peaks, British Columbia

2001 2nd place, Downhill Skiing, Lake Louise, Alberta 3rd place, Downhill Skiing, Lake Louise, Alberta 3rd place, Downhill, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec 7th, Super G, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec 8th place, Slalom, Mont Orford, Quebec

2002 4th place, Downhill Skiing, Whistler, British Columbia, Quebec

Résulats International Competitions 1988 8th place, Downhill, Madonna di Campiglio, Italy

1989 1st place, Downhill Aleyska, Alaska

1991 9th place, Giant Slalom, Saalbach -Hinterglemm, Austria

1994 1st place, Downhill, Saalbach -Hinterglemm, Austria 5th place, Handset, Chamonix, France 3rd place, Downhill Skiing, Lillehammer, Norway 7th place, Downhill, Aspen, United States of America 4th place, Downhill, Aspen, United States of America 5th place, Downhill, Cail, United States of America

1995 4th place, Downhill Kitzbühel, Austria 7th place, Handset, Wengen, Switzerland 5th place, Downhill, Saalbach -Hinterglemm, Austria 4th, Super G, Whistler, British Columbia 4th place, Downhill, Mont Ste- Anne, Quebec 9th place, Giant Slalom, Whistler, British Columbia 4th, Super G, El Colorado / Farellone, Chile 10th place, Downhill Skiing, Vail, Colorado 3rd place, Downhill, Bormio, Italy

1996 5th place, Handset, Kitzbühel, Austria 2nd place Super -G, Garmisch -Partenkirchen, Germany 2nd place, Downhill, Mont Ste Anne, Quebec 3rd place Slalom, Mont Garceau, Quebec 2nd place Giant Slalom, Mont Garceau, Quebec 4th place, Downhill, Bormio, Italy

1997 10th place, Downhill Kitzbühel, Austria 4th, Super G, Garmisch -Partenkirchen, Germany 3rd place, Downhill Kvitfjell, Norway 5th place, Downhill, Valle Nevado / LaParva, Chile

1998 9th place, Downhill, Wengen, Switzerland 3rd place, Handset, Kitzbühel, Austria 1st place, Downhill, Jackson, Wyoming

1999 3rd place, Downhill, Val Gardena, Italy 10th place, Downhill Skiing, Val Gardena, Italy

2000 3rd place, Downhill, Wengen, Switzerland 5th place, Downhill, Bormio, Italy

World Cup victories DateLocationRace6 January 1994 SaalbachDownhill