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CALGARY -- John Kuceras career was shorter than he wanted but he leaves alpine ski racing knowing he achieved two firsts for Canada. The first Canadian man to win a world downhill championship and the Canadian skier to stand atop the World Cup podium in Lake Louise, Alta., announced his retirement from ski racing Thursday. Kucera won the mens downhill title in Val-dIsere, France, in 2009. He earned three career World Cup medals in super-G, including gold in Lake Louise in 2006. "Im just really proud I managed to take a very short career and do big things with it," the 29-year-old Calgarian said at Alpine Canadas headquarters in his hometown. "It was a great ride. It really was. "I did some things in this country that I was the first to do and Im really proud of that." Kuceras first four years on the national team were successful and promising. But a broken leg followed by a frustrating inner ear condition sidelined him for four of the last five seasons and also kept him from competing in two Winter Olympics. Vestibular neuritis -- an inner ear condition causing dizziness and nausea -- struck during a training camp in Chile last September and made it impossible to race through gates at 130 kilometres per hour. Kucera wasnt able to get back on skis to race at the Winter Games in Sochi in February. The symptoms still linger and the uncertainty over how long theyll remain, combined with an opportunity to join the coaching staff of the national development team, steered Kucera towards retirement. "Truth be told, Im not 100 per cent yet," he said. "I think my body just told me it was time to start doing something else. "This vestibular neuritis is tough because there is no time line. I could be good by July, but I could be good by next July and really, nobody can give me that answer. Who wouldve thought the thing that would have finally took me out was waking up dizzy one morning?" Super giant slalom, or super-G, is shorter than downhill but there are more gates on the course. The discipline requires a combination of speed and technical ability. At five foot nine and 185 pounds, Kucera wasnt as beefy as the top downhill racers early in his career, so he excelled in super-G. But on Feb. 7, 2009, he bested such heavyweights as Hermann Maier of Austria, Didier Cuche of Switzerland, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and American Bode Miller to win on Val-dIseres difficult slope. "Val-dIsere was a course that obviously played into a lot of my strengths, very technical, very steep," Kucera recalled. "That being said, I felt like every year I was becoming a better and better downhiller. "I just hit the right track, the right conditions and the right time of my career to become a champion there." Kucera was the first Canadian to win in 26 years of World Cup racing at Lake Louise when he captured super-G gold in 2006. He drew the No. 1 start bib, so after crossing the finish line, the 22-year-old stood nervously in front of television cameras watching as skier after skier came down the mountain. "I remember being really cold. I think it was -35 C that day," Kucera said. "Coming down, having that great run, freezing, watching a lot of the people I looked up to growing up and me beating them, it was pretty exciting." Kucera dedicated that victory to his former coach and friend, Jason Lapierre, who was hit by a car while biking and died earlier that year. Kuceras successes coincided with those of teammates Erik Guay, Manny Osborne-Paradis and Jan Hudec. The "Canadian Cowboys" have given the national mens downhill team depth it hasnt had since Steve Podborski and Ken Read headlined the "Crazy Canucks" of the 1980s. Guay won the mens downhill title again for Canada in 2011, while Hudec took silver in 2007. Guay passed Podborski as Canadas most decorated World Cup racer with 22 career medals. Guay also won the overall super-G title in 2010. Osborne-Paradis collected nine World Cup medals, including three gold, between 2006 and 2010. Hudec tied for third and won Olympic bronze in super-G in Sochi. "As a group, now with Jans medal at the Olympics, weve really done it all," Kucera said. "The only thing I guess you could say we havent done is we dont have an Olympic champion yet. "As a group, we pulled off some special things. Weve kind of superceded the Crazy Canuck era and did something great. Weve set the bar pretty high for the next group coming up, but I think thats where it needs to be." Kucera won two World Cup medals at Lake Louise -- he took silver there in 2008 -- but the mountain was disastrous for him in the first race of 2009-10. He badly broke his left leg in the super-G and erased his chance to race in Whistler, B.C., at the 2010 Winter Games. Rehabilitation and subsequent setbacks kept him off his race skis for the next three seasons. "Obviously the last four years hadnt gone exactly gone the way I would have liked them to, but that being said, I felt the time was right to step away now," Kucera said. "Ive had a good run as an athlete. "Im walking away relatively healthy. Thats a good thing. Im excited and passionate about the next group, the guys Im going to be working with because Im going to be working with a pretty exciting group of 17- to 19-year-olds." Kuceras parents, Jan and Zdena, emigrated to Canada from the former Czechoslovakia in the early 1980s before John was born. Jan worked with the ski patrol at nearby Nakiska. John and his brother James began skiing at an early age. Los Angeles Kings Jerseys . His right arm rested in a sling and was encased in a cast from above the elbow to his hand. "Im excited," Fernandez said with a grin. Rogie Vachon Jersey . -- Pinch-runner Rajai Daviss decision to steal third base just as Oakland catcher Derek Norris was throwing the ball back to the pitcher caught most everyone by surprise -- including several of his Detroit teammates. http://www.authenticlakingspro.com/Dustin-brown-kings-jersey/ . -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. Anze Kopitar Jersey .Y. - Through three quarters, the Brooklyn Nets could not shake the NBAs worst team. Custom Los Angeles Kings Jerseys . Hemsky left the Oilers Tuesday night loss to the Dallas Stars in the second period and did not return. Through 48 games this season, Hemsky has seven goals and a total of 24 points.Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Justin Anderson posted 16 points and nine rebounds and No. 3 Virginia stayed unbeaten with Wednesdays 61-51 win over North Carolina State. Malcolm Brogdon gave 14 points and Anthony Gill had 12 with seven rebounds for Virginia, which was coming off a double-overtime win over Miami in its ACC opener last Saturday. Virginia (14-0, 2-0 ACC) entered Wednesdays tilt ranked second in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 50.8 per game despite its last two opponents scoring 72 and 80, respectively. It got back to form on Wednesday and caused fits for the Wolfpack, who had a six-plus minute scoreless stretch in each half. We changed in practice. We knew that two games in a row we didnt execute defensively to our standard, and coach wanted to ramp it up this week, said Anderson. I think we came out start to finish on edge and we did a good job. Ralston Turner led NC State (11-5, 2-1) with 14 points, and Kyle Washington tallied 13 with 10 rebounds. I thought my team competed really hard and played extremely hard, NC State coach Mark Gottfried said. We didnt finish the game. A lot of good things that we did, we just didnt finish the game. Washington hit consecutive jumpers early in the second half, the second of which gave the WWolfpack a 37-36 lead.dddddddddddd It was a one or two-point game either way over the next eight minutes. Then, Mike Tobeys layup at 7:40 sparked a run of 10 straight points for the Cavaliers. His two-handed dunk on a lookaway feed from Anderson in transition made it 51-42. After Caleb Martins 3 cut the deficit six out of a timeout, Gill answered with a pair of putbacks to seal the deal. I dont think we are where we need to be defensively, said Virginia coach Tony Bennett. I think we have limitations. NC State looked to have Virginias pack line defense figured out in the early going, making four 3-pointers in the first 6 1/2 minutes to take a 16-8 lead. But a prolonged scoring drought of 6:21 allowed Virginia to climb in front. Brogdon scored six points during the 13-0 run. Turner hit three 3s in the final 3:23 of the half and Anthony Barber was fouled shooting a 3-pointer as time expired and made 2-of-3, but Virginia still led 32-31 at halftime. Game Notes Virginia owned a 40-29 rebounding advantage and outscored NC State 22-14 in the paint ...Out of 20 field goals for NC State, nine came from beyond the arc ... The Wolfpack did not score a point in transition ... Tobey scored 11 points off the bench. 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