Pierre Harvey

Harvey, Pierre

Pierre Harvey, cross-country skier (b at Rimouski, Qué 24 Mar 1957). An exceptionally versatile athlete, he began serious competition at age 12 as a swimmer, switching to cycling at 16. On his way to a Québec championship (1975), a Canadian championship (150 km, 1976) and Canada's best 1976 Olympic cycling performance (24th, 180 km), he took up cross-country skiing as winter training.

In 1984 he became the first Canadian male athlete to participate in both Olympics (Summer and Winter, in cycling and cross-country skiing) in the same year, but he had already begun the concentration on cross-country skiing which was to make him one of the sport's all-time greatest Canadian champions. His impressive string of achievements includes first winner of all 4 gold medals at one Canadian championship (1986 and again in 1987), first Canadian winner of a World Cup Race (Falun, Sweden, 1987, 30 km free technique), and first Canadian Worldloppet winner (Birkebeiner, Norway, 1987).

Harvey was credited with the resurgent popularity of cross-country skiing in Canada in the 1980s and for his contribution to Canadian sport was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1988. He was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2006. In recent years he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.