Brian Stemmle (born October 12, 1966) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired

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 name is ...

alpine ski racer who competed primarily in the speed events of downhill and

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

. He was a member of the national ski team for fourteen years and was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 2002. Stemmle competed for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in four

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, 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 held in ...

, from

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

through

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Olympics

Stemmle represented Canada at four Winter Olympic Games. At the 1988 Games in Calgary, Stemmle competed in the downhill event at Nakiska, but missed a gate on his run and was disqualified. At the 1992 Games in Albertville, Stemmle finished 23rd in the downhill competition. Competing in the Super-G event at the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, Stemmle finished 26th. Stemmle's fourth time at the Olympics was at the 1998 Games in Nagano, competing in both the super-G and downhill. He finished twelfth in the super-G and did not finish in the downhill event, as he caught a rut low on the course, after being ahead of the eventual winner at the previous split by about half a second.

History

Born in

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridge ...

, Stemmle was a member of the National Team from 1985 to 1999, and represented Canada at the 1988, 1992, 1994 and 1998 Olympic Winter Games. During his 15 years of international competition, Stemmle competed in 93 World Cup races, garnering three podium finishes and fifteen top tens. His best result occurred in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, a runner-up finish in a downhill at Garmisch,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Known primarily as a downhill specialist, Stemmle's first World Cup podium came at age 18 in March

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, in a super-G at Furano, Japan. A six-time medalist at the Canadian Championships, Stemmle currently works as a television colour commentator for Rogers Sportsnet and CBC Sports. He worked for CBC during the Olympics in 2006 and was the lead commentator for Alpine Skiing at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

in Vancouver/Whistler.

Kitzbühel

Stemmle suffered a major setback during a

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

competition in

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

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

; a crash on the fabled

Streif Streif is a FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Downhill (ski competition), downhill ski course in Austria, located on Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, Hahnenkamm mountain (Kitzbühel Alps) in Kitzbühel, Tyrol (state), Tyrol, and has hosted the Hahnenk ...

downhill course nearly ended not only his career, but his life. He fought back from a broken pelvis, massive internal injuries and infection by winning a gold medal at the

1990 Winter Pan American Games The 1990 Winter Pan American Games, officially known as the I Winter Pan American Games () and commonly known as Las Leñas 1990, were held in Las Leñas, Argentina, from 16 September to 22 September 1990. They were the only Winter Pan American G ...

Las Leñas Las Leñas is a ski resort in Argentina, located in the western part of Mendoza Province. It has reliable powder snow and climate for extreme and off-piste skiing. Construction of the ski center began January 1983, and by July 1983, it opened wit ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Stemmle returned to the World Cup circuit for the next nine seasons until his retirement in 1999.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stemmle, Brian 1966 births Living people Canadian male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Aurora, Ontario Skiing people from Ontario 20th-century Canadian sportsmen