By Dan Plouffe
After an 11-year career on the Canadian national team, Ottawa alpine skier Ryan Semple has retired, the 30-year-old announced recently.
Semple raced only once in 2012 after a serious crash knocked him out for the rest of the season. The Mont Tremblant athlete slowly recovered from the injury but decided not to return to the slopes for this year’s competitive campaign.
Semple represented Canada at both the 2006 Torino and 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, recording a 15th place result in front of his home country in Whistler.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever really experienced,” recalls Semple, who grew up in the Glebe and attended Lycée Claudel and Ashbury high schools. “There were so many emotions, and so much attention in Canada, which we never get. There’s an aura about the Olympics that’s hard to explain, you just kind of have to be there and feel it.”
Semple began his international career as a slalom specialist but carved out a niche in super combined in recent years despite numerous injuries that limited his consistency and progress. He twice placed 11th in World Cup races and left the sport as the 12th-ranked super combined skier in the world.
“Although I can’t say I stood on the top step of a World Cup podium, a childhood dream of mine, I can say I gave it my all,” Semple said in a statement announcing his retirement. “I have poured sweat and tears to reach my goals and am proud of my results. Leaving a sport you love is not an easy thing to do, but I will do so without regret.”