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

Crazy Canucks The Crazy Canucks was the nickname for a group of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racers from Canada who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Jungle Jim Hunter (skier), Jim Hunter, Dave Irwin, Dave Murray (ski ...

and a ski commentator on television.

World Cup career

Born in

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Brooker learned to ski and race at The Toronto Ski Club 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 name is ...

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 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

to January

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. 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 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 ...

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

) in

1983 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 TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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 language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

and the 1985 World Championships. The

Hahnenkamm Hahnenkamm (means "comb (anatomy), comb") may refer to *Hahnenkamm (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft), a federation of municipalities in Bavaria, Germany *Hahnenkamm, Greenland, a mountain in the Stauning Alps, Greenland *Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, a mountain ...

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 ...

, 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 a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. He was a specialist in the downhill and a two-time Olympian. He won five World Cup races during his ten-year international career, all in downhill. ...

Steve Podborski Stephen Gregory 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 Craigl ...

, 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, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. He has covered alpine skiing for numerous

Winter Olympics 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 i ...

for U.S. television, and currently provides commentary and analysis on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

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 Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

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 ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in the United States. Brooker lives on a farm in rural Ontario near

Thornbury Thornbury may refer to: Places ;Australia *Thornbury, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Thornbury railway station, Melbourne ;Canada * Thornbury, Ontario ;England *Thornbury, Devon * Thornbury, Herefordshire *Thornbury, Gloucestershire **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 mount ...

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 20th-century Canadian sportsmen