Dale Begg-Smith

Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Dale Begg-Smith began his skiing career as a member of the Canadian junior team and made his debut on the World Cup circuit in 2001 posting a top twenty finish just a week after his sixteenth birthday. His career on the national team lasted barely a matter of weeks as a dispute between the skier and the Canadian coaching setup over his involvement in an internet company led to Begg-Smith abandoning Canada in favour of Australia. He did not compete in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons but instead trained with the Australian squad whilst he served his residency qualification.

Granted an Australian passport in 2003 he returned to competition in December of that year and broke into the top ten of a World Cup race in only his third race of his comeback. Begg-Smith continued his ascent of the world rankings in 2004-05 and, although he failed to win an event, he was a regular visitor to the podium and took the bronze in moguls at the World Championships in Finland. He made the breakthrough to the top step of the podium at a World Cup event in Oberstdorf in December 2005 and then went on a run of success that saw him win four of five events immediately preceding the Torino Olympics.

With such a run of recent success and with his name at the top of the world rankings he was seen as the favourite for the gold medal and he lived up to that billing as he qualified for the final in first place and maintained the position in the final to became the first representative of a Southern Hemisphere nation to win an Olympic title on snow. He continued his form into the 2006-07 season, retained his World Cup moguls title and added two World Championship medals to his collection when he won the gold in the dual mogul discipline and silver in the regular mogul event. A third World Cup title followed in 2007-08 but he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in early 2009 and was not able to defend his World Championship.

His business ventures have proved successful and he was reported to have earned a considerable personal fortune. The exact nature of his business is a subject for debate but press reports have centred on the distribution of spyware, spam and “pop-under” internet advertising. His older brother Jason followed Dale to Australia and competed alongside him at the 2006 Winter Games