David Ford (kayaker)
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.
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| Born | March 23, 1967 Edmonton, Alberta | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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.[1] Ford followed up with a World Championship silver in 2003. In 2003 he also won the overall World Cup title in K1.[2] 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.[1]
Ford has competed in five Summer Olympics, earning a fourth-place finish in the K1 event in Athens in 2004. He had a sixth-place finish in the same event in 2008 in Beijing. Ford could not get a sixth appearance in the 2012 Summer Olympics, as of his elbow tendons had ruptured prior to the qualifier, and with no time for the required surgery, countless injections were unable to produce an adequate result for him to paddle to his abilities.[3]
World Cup individual podiums
| Season | Date | Venue | Position | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 7 Jul 1991 | Augsburg | 3rd | C1 |
| 1992 | 7 Jun 1992 | Merano | 1st | K1 |
| 1995 | 1 Oct 1995 | Ocoee | 3rd | K1 |
| 1998 | 2 Aug 1998 | Wausau | 3rd | K1 |
| 2001 | 5 Aug 2001 | Prague | 3rd | K1 |
| 2002 | 26 May 2002 | Guangzhou | 3rd | K1 |
| 28 Jul 2002 | Tacen | 3rd | K1 | |
| 15 Sep 2002 | Tibagi | 1st | K1 | |
| 2003 | 11 May 2003 | Penrith | 1st | K1 |
| 3 Aug 2003 | Bratislava | 3rd | K1 | |
| 2004 | 30 May 2004 | Merano | 2nd | K1 |
| 2005 | 27 Aug 2005 | Kern River | 1st | K11 |
| 2006 | 20 Aug 2006 | Madawaska | 1st | K11 |
| 2009 | 3 Aug 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.[4]
References
- Beck, Jason. "David Ford". BCSportsHallofFame.com. BC Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- "David Ford". canoekayak.ca. Canoe Kayak Canada. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- David Ford: Whitewater trailblazer
- Kingston, Gary. "David Ford refuses to hang up his paddle". vancouversun.com. Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
- Official website
- Real Champions profile
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "David Ford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23.