After racing on the World Cup for nearly a decade against the top athletes on the globe, and competing in the Torino and Vancouver Olympics along with five World Championships, the 31-year-old George Grey, has decided to retire.
"For me the timing just felt right," said Grey, who started skiing when he was four years old, and racing at age seven. "In the last two years I felt like I accomplished many of my career goals and reached a performance level that was as high as I could attain. I am now looking forward to being a husband, father, and to new challenges and experiences in life."
With Canada's Beckie Scott having just broken through to win Canada's first Olympic medal in the sport, Grey of Rossland, B.C., emerged onto the National Ski Team in 2002 with a group of bright-eyed, energetic young men from across the country poised and determined to follow Scott's trail to the international podium.
Devon Kershaw was the first to find his way onto the podium in 2006, and it didn't take long for the others to follow suit. Four years later, Grey enjoyed a breakthrough moment of his own with his most memorable races coming at Whistler Olympic Park. The veteran teamed up with National Ski Team rookie, Alex Harvey, in 2009 to win a World Cup bronze medal in the sprint relay at the Olympic Test Event in Whistler. His best Olympic and individual career finish was eighth during the pursuit competition in 2010 when all three Canadian men finished in the top-10, and all four in the top-20.
"Getting my hands on just one medal was such an incredible high for me, and sharing it with such a talented athlete and friend in Alex made it even sweeter," said Grey, whose best individual result outside the Olympics was a ninth-place finish at the Tour de Ski prologue in 2009. "My fondest memory has to be the 30-kilometre pursuit race with Ivan (Babikov), Alex (Harvey), and Devon (Kershaw) skiing right at the front of the pack with me. We were showing the world that we had finally arrived, and what we were capable of as a team. It was a career best for me, and to do it at a home Olympics with three of my buddies was amazing."
After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears, Grey leaves the sport with the Canadian men's squad amongst the best in the world.
"When I joined the Canadian men's team we were described as 'Canada's most anonymous athletes,' he said. "Now our team has World Championship medallists, World Cup medallists, Tour de Ski medallists. We have delivered a solid team. I know Canada is in good hands and there is loads of great talent coming up the system so I will sleep well."
