Ken Read

Kenneth John 'Ken' Read, CM BA (born November 6, 1955) is one of the most decorated sport leaders in Canadian history. This World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada was a specialist in the downhill and a two-time Olympian, he won five World Cup races during his ten-year international career.

Read grew up in Vancouver, Kingston and Calgary.

Ski racing

Ken Read was a member of the Canadian alpine ski team from 1973 to 1983 and competed in two Olympic Winter Games. A life-long Calgary resident, Read was part "Crazy Canucks", the Canadian downhill team of the late 1970s and early 1980s, that consistently challenged the Europeans with a daring racing style.

Read's first World Cup top ten finish came in January 1975 in a combined event at Kitzbühel. Later that calendar year, he became the first North American male to win a Downhill World Cup race, a downhill in Val-d'Isère, France on December 7, 1975. Read went on to win four more World Cup downhill races and his point total for the 1980 season placed him second in the downhill final standings. He was the first non-European to win both the Austrian downhill Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel, and the Swiss race Lauberhorn at Wengen. These two victories complemented his 1978 win at Les Houches near Chamonix, France, in the Arlberg-Kandahar, ski racing's oldest classic event. Another victory in January 1979 at Morzine was disallowed because of a non-conforming suit due to a manufacturing flaw. His outstanding season in 1980 was marred by an unfortunate binding release, just fifteen seconds into the Olympic downhill where he was considered the gold-medal favourite.

Ken Read (sailor)

Kenneth Read (b. June 24, 1961, USA) is an American yachtsman who is considered one of the world’s most accomplished and celebrated sailors. He was named United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year twice (1985 and 1995), and has won more than 40 world, North American, and national championships in a variety of classes including the J/24 and Etchells 22. While sailing at Boston University (Boston, MA. USA) Read was a three-time collegiate All American (1981, 1982 and 1983) and is a member of the BU Hall of Fame. Read also won the "Everett B. Morris Trophy", awarded to the ICSA College Sailor of the Year in 1982. Read was helmsman aboard two (2000, 2003) of Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes America’s Cup campaigns. He also served as strategist and coach with America’s Cup entry Young America in 1999.

Read first began racking up offshore miles when he joined the Ericsson Racing Team for the last four legs of the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race.

Read was skipper of Puma Ocean Racing Team’s il Mostro in the 2008-2009 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race—his first complete circumnavigation. Read took a sabbatical from his job as vice president of sailmaking company North Sails to skipper PUMA Ocean Racing's entry in the race.

Ken Read (footballer)

Ken Read (28 September 1911 – 1 June 1999) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

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Ken Read (disambiguation)

Ken Read (born 1955) is an Canadian alpine skier

Ken or Kenneth Read may also refer to:

See also