Ed Podivinsky

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.

1995 Résulats of National competitions and North American

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

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 are skiers. [14]

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