Todd Brooker (born November 24, 1959) is a former alpine ski racer member

Crazy Canucks The Crazy Canucks was the nickname for a group of World Cup alpine ski racers from Canada who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Jungle Jim Hunter, Dave Irwin, Dave Murray, Steve Podborski, and Ken Read earned themselves a reputation ...

and a ski commentator on television.

World Cup career

Born in Waterloo,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Brooker learned to ski and race at Blue Mountain, near Collingwood and made the Canadian national team in 1977; he competed on the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

circuit from December

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

to January

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. A younger member of the

(Canada's downhill team) of the early 1980s Brooker won two World Cup downhill races at (

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

) in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

finishing ninth in the season's overall downhill standings. Two years later, he won the downhill race in Furano,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

finishing seventh in the 1985 downhill standings. Brookers rise to world class prominence placed him 13th at the 1982 World Championships, ninth in the downhill in both the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

and the 1985 World Championships. The Hahnenkamm in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, is arguably the most physically and mentally demanding race on the downhill skiing world cup circuit. The ''Streif'' course is one of the most respected and feared downhill courses. A victory is a badge of honor, if not a bragging right to even the most seasoned and decorated racer. From 1980 to 1983, Canadians

Ken Read Kenneth John Read (born November 6, 1955) is one of the most respected sport leaders in Canada. This World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada was a specialist in the downhill and a two-time Olympian. He won five World Cup races during his ten-year ...

Steve Podborski Stephen Gregory "Steve" Podborski, (born July 25, 1957) is a Canadian former World Cup and Olympic downhill ski racer. Racing career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Podborski started skiing at the age of two and a half at Craigleith Ski Club in C ...

, and Brooker broke the European dominance of victory at Kitzbühel. After returning from a knee injury, Brooker's ski racing career ended in Kitzbühel at the top of the ''Zielschuss'' in January

with the most gut wrenching spectacular ragdoll head-over-heels cartwheeling fall ever captured on film. When asked about the video, Brooker has remarked that everyone remembers his Kitzbühel fall, except for him. The crash in the Friday training run ended his season and racing career. Brooker finished his World Cup career with three victories, seven podiums, and 15 top ten finishes, all in downhill.

World Cup results

Season standings

Race podiums

* 3 wins – (3 DH) * 7 podiums – (7 DH)

World championship results

Olympic results

Post-racing career

Brooker has been a ski commentator on television for a number of years, and has worked for most of the major networks in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. He has covered alpine skiing for numerous

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

for U.S. television, and currently provides commentary and analysis on CBC in Canada during the World Cup ski season. Brooker covered

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in the United States. Brooker lives on a farm in rural Ontario near Thornbury, with his wife and three daughters.Sonic Relief.com
- Todd Brooker

Crabbe Mountain Speed Camp

Brooker also made an appearance at the 2011

Crabbe Mountain Crabbe Mountain is a Canadian alpine ski hill in Central Hainesville, New Brunswick near the intersection of Route 104 and Route 610. Crabbe Mountain was first skied in the spring of 1959 when three explored and cut the first trail on the mounta ...

Speed Camp, a camp where kids from across Atlantic Canada go to learn the discipline known as Super G.

References

External links

* *
Canadian Ski Hall of Fame
– Todd Brooker – inducted 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooker, Todd 1959 births Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Canadian male alpine skiers Canadian sports announcers Living people Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Olympic Games broadcasters Skiing announcers Sportspeople from Waterloo, Ontario