Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas (born March 31, 1971) is a Canadian skeleton racer who has competed since 2006. He played football and competed in track whilst at University in Toronto, and at the age of 30 he was discovered by racer Pascal Richard. He competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics but was disqualified before his third run for failing to remove the covers off the runner guards of his sled. Early life Douglas was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Kleinburg. He attended King City Secondary School, from which he graduated in 1990. He studied at Fanshawe College and went on to play Canadian football for the University of Toronto as a cornerback. He gave up football after as backup to the first team and moved onto athletics instead, a decision he says he has since regretted as the football team went on to win the Vanier Cup three years later, with a team that featured several players who too were backup players when Douglas was on the team. Skeleton racing Skeleton racer Pascal Richard spotted Douglas playing soccer and suggested he try skeleton instead, resulting in Douglas starting to race at the age of 30. He started on the European circuit in 2004, and moved to the World Cup circuit in 2007. He failed to qualify for the 2008 team by two tenths of a second, resulting in him being removed from the team. He returned in the 2009–10 season, taking the place of Keith Loach, who he beat again in a two race runoff to join Jeff Pain and Jon Montgomery in the Olympic team. Whilst racing on the track used in the 2006 Winter Olympics at Cesana Pariol in Italy, he was part of a Canadian team holding all three top spots. However, after the second run through, Douglas dropped into the fourth place where he finished.