Australian · Vancouver, Canada · Born 18 January 1985Dale Begg-Smith is an Australian former freestyle skier and internet entrepreneur who won Olympic gold in the moguls at the 2006 Turin Games after switching allegiance from his native Canada.
When Canadian ski coaches told a teenage Dale Begg-Smith that his internet business was a distraction from training, he walked away from the program entirely, switched allegiance to Australia, and won Olympic moguls gold at the 2006 Turin Games. When his Canadian ski coaches told him he was spending too much time on his growing business and not enough on training, Begg-Smith abandoned the Canadian program and, alongside his older brother Jason, moved to Australia in 2001 to pursue citizenship and represent the country instead. Granted an Australian passport in 2003, Begg-Smith returned to competition and rose rapidly through the World Cup rankings, winning four events in the lead-up to the 2006 Turin Olympics. He won the gold medal in the men's moguls at Turin, becoming just the third Australian ever to win a Winter Olympics gold medal, after short-track speed skater Steven Bradbury and aerial skier Alisa Camplin. Begg-Smith continued his dominance after Turin, winning three consecutive World Cup overall titles and adding World Championship gold in the dual moguls event and silver in the standard moguls in 2007. He returned to his native Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, narrowly missing a second gold and settling for silver behind Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau. After a serious knee injury in 2009, he made a brief comeback attempt at the 2014 Sochi Olympics before retiring following a crash in qualifying. Away from skiing, Begg-Smith built a considerable personal fortune through internet advertising ventures, though the exact nature of his business drew scrutiny in press reports centred on spam and pop-under advertising.
Winning Olympic gold in moguls at the 2006 Turin Games after switching from Canada to Australia
How They Played
Technically precise moguls skier renowned for consistency and aerial execution
Lasting Impact
One of Australia's most successful Winter Olympians and a pioneer of the country's freestyle skiing moguls programme
Career Honours
- Olympic gold, moguls (2006)
- Olympic silver, moguls (2010)
- World Championship gold, dual moguls (2007)
- Overall World Cup champion (2007)
- One of only nine Australians to win a Winter Olympic gold medal
Australian Athletes