Canada’s Dustin Cook announces plans to retire

On March 2nd, 2020, Canadian speed skier, Dustin Cook, announced his plans to retire from the World Cup circuit after the conclusion of the races in Kvitfjell, Norway over the upcoming weekend. His last race will be the super G, on Sunday, March 8th, an event that Cook will forever remember fondly as the site of his last race in 2020 and that of his first podium in 2015.

Prior to the downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Cook expressed concerns about his mental health prior to the race, taking to Instagram to say that he just didn’t feel up for the challenge, that racing had been a struggle for him in the 2019/20 season. After long speculation, he finally chose to discontinue his World Cup career at the conclusion of the season.

“I am very proud of the things I have accomplished over my career. Growing up I always dreamt of being an Olympian, being on the Canadian Alpine Ski Team, and of winning World Cup races, but it all seemed like a pipe dream. I accomplished things I can honestly say I did not think were possible for a kid growing up in eastern Ontario and western Quebec,” Cook told Alpine Canada.

Cook has been on the Canadian National Team since 2007, a total of 12 seasons with the alpine team. In his career, Cook has had two World Cup podiums in the super G, earned a silver medal at World Championships, and competed in the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018.