Dale Begg-Smith (born 18 January 1985) is an Australian-Canadian businessman and former Olympic freestyle skier. Begg-Smith won the gold medal for Australia in the men's moguls event at the 2006 Winter Olympics and silver at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Early years Begg-Smith formed an internet company when he was 13 years old. He was skiing for his native Canada as a teenager when his coaches told him he was spending too much time on his successful business and not enough time in training.
So Begg-Smith quit the Canadian ski program and, along with his brother Jason Begg-Smith, moved to Australia at age 16 to live with his cousin Nicole. The brothers chose to ski for Australia because the country had a smaller ski program that offered them more attention and flexibility to successfully manage their business.
The brothers stayed out of competitive skiing for three years and instead trained with the Australian team, living in Jindabyne, New South Wales each winter. The pair qualified for Australian citizenship, in 2003–04, after three years and were then free to compete for their adopted country.
Career Begg-Smith is one of only nine Australians to win a gold medal in a Winter Games and the youngest to win an Olympic Gold in the history of men's freestyle mogul skiing.
In the lead-up to the 2006 Winter Games, Dale Begg-Smith won three World Cup rounds and was ranked world number one in the moguls' discipline.
Begg-Smith holds the record for qualifying for the most consecutive World Cup finals in events he entered. In March 2010, he reached his 48th consecutive final. His fourth World Cup title in 2010 also put him even with French Skier Edgar Grospiron for most World Cup wins.
Begg-Smith won silver at the 2010 Winter Olympics held in his native Vancouver, leading to some complaints about biased-judging from members of the Australian coaching staff. "Sometimes you're in the good graces of the judges, sometimes you're not," Gold medalist Alex Bilodeau said. "Judged sports can't be perfect. It can be a bad part of my sport. I see it. But everybody is going to be equal in the end."
Begg-Smith represented Australia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, reaching the 2nd qualifying round.
Personal Begg-Smith is considered a recluse by many, and has repeatedly refused to communicate with non-Australian media, Canadian media in particular. NBC dubbed him "the most mysterious man of the Winter Olympics" in a piece aired on 14 February 2010, during the Vancouver games.
Alisa Monk, coordinator of the moguls program, said that she booked Begg-Smith's hotels and flights economically, despite his wealth. "Wherever the team stays, he stays. There are certainly no big demands. You wouldn't know he had a bit of money." She also said, "When he is at Perisher he stays in the same hut as the other mogul skiers and his brother."MX: "The Mouse who Roared" (Quiet Achiever infobox). 16 February 2006
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Begg-Smith donated his prize money – about $13,670 – to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
Business controversy There are claims that Begg-Smith's internet advertising business, Ads CPM later called CPM Media, had been linked to the distribution of malware. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that "a trail of digital fingerprints scattered over the web... shows Mr Begg-Smith's long and rewarding involvement in the distribution of "malicious software". Begg-Smith's manager, David Malina, said reports about his client's business had been "exaggerated", and that "it's not really something that he's involved with anymore ... he's minimised his involvement to concentrate on his sport."
Honours On 21 February 2006, Australia Post issued a postage stamp commemorating Begg-Smith's achievement, saying his gold put him in a "small and honoured group of athletes".Australia Post: "Australia Post to release Dale Begg-Smith gold medallist stamp". Retrieved 27 March 2006 In 2005, he was awarded Ski and Snowboard Australia's Snowsports Athlete of the Year.
Results Winter Olympic Games
Year Age Moguls 2006 Turin 21 1 2010 Vancouver 25 2 2014 Sochi 29 25
World Championships
Year Age Moguls Dual Moguls 2005 Ruka 20 3 5 2007 Madonna di Campiglio 22 2 1
World Cup results by season
Season Moguls Dual Moguls Overall Moguls Overall Freestyle skiing Events started Wins Events started Wins Events started Wins Points Rank Points Rank 2000–01 2/7 0 0 0/1 0 0 2/8 0 0 32 41 8.00 77 2003–04 9/12 0 0 2/2 0 0 11/12 0 0 153 18 11.00 75 2004–05 11/11 0 3 11/11 0 3 478 43.00 7 2005–06 11/11 6 8 11/11 6 8 821 75.00 2006–07 7/7 4 5 3/3 2 2 10/10 6 7 784 78.00 2007–08 9/9 3 4 1/1 0 1 10/10 3 5 664 66.00 2008–09 3/7 0 0 1/2 0 0 4/9 0 0 147 18 16.00 58 2009–10 10/10 3 6 10/10 3 6 693 69.00 2010–11 1/6 0 0 0/5 0 0 1/11 0 0 40 35 4.00 126 2013–14 4/8 0 0 0/3 0 0 4/11 0 0 118 23 11.00 114 Total 67 16 26 7 2 3 74 18 29 – – – –
Notes
World Cup podiums
Podiums: 29 First – 18 Second – 8 Third – 3 Season Date Location Discipline Place 29 2010 18 March 2010 Sierra Nevada, Spain MogulsSilver 28 21 January 2010 Lake Placid, New York, USA MogulsSilver 27 16 January 2010 Deer Valley, Utah, USA MogulsSilver 26 14 January 2010 Deer Valley, Utah, USA MogulsGold 25 9 January 2010 Calgary, Alberta, Canada MogulsGold 24 8 January 2010 Calgary, Alberta, Canada MogulsGold 23 2008 8 March 2008 Åre, Sweden Dual MogulsSilver 22 7 March 2008 Åre, Sweden MogulsGold 21 16 February 2008 Inawashiro, Japan MogulsGold 20 20 January 2008 Lake Placid, New York, USA MogulsGold 19 18 January 2008 Lake Placid, New York, USA MogulsSilver 18 2007 3 March 2007 Voss, Norway MogulsGold 17 2 March 2007 Voss, Norway MogulsGold 16 24 February 2007 Apex, British Columbia, Canada MogulsGold 15 18 February 2007 Inawashiro, Japan Dual MogulsGold 14 6 February 2007 La Plagne, France Dual MogulsGold 13 5 February 2007 La Plagne, France MogulsBronze 12 6 January 2007 Mont Gabriel, Quebec, Canada MogulsGold 11 2006 18 March 2006 Apex, British Columbia, Canada MogulsGold 10 1 March 2006 Jisan Forest Resort, Korea MogulsGold 9 4 February 2006 Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechia MogulsSilver 8 28 January 2006 Madonna di Campiglio, Italy MogulsGold 7 22 January 2006 Lake Placid, New York, USA MogulsGold 6 20 January 2006 Lake Placid, New York, USA MogulsGold 5 13 January 2006 Deer Valley, Utah, USA Moguls Bronze 4 18 December 2005 Oberstdorf, Bavaria, Germany MogulsGold 3 2005 11 February 2005 Naeba, Japan Moguls Bronze 2 5 February 2005 Inawashiro, Japan MogulsSilver 1 29 January 2005 Deer Valley, Utah, USA MogulsSilver
References
External links Begg-Smith wins another World Cup crown The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 2010 NBC Olympics Profile: Dale Begg-Smith Dale the question: can Australia win a mogul medal in Turin? The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 January 2006. 'Spam man' wins gold The Age, 16 February 2006. AP Winter Games Profile: Dale Begg-Smith Dale Begg-Smith currently living on Grand Cayman Island