In the first super-G events of the 2021-2022 World Cup season, the Canadian men’s team showed the world their capacity for speed and established themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

On the first day in Beaver Creek, Colorado at the Birds of Prey Audi FIS World Cup, Broderick Thompson rocketed from starting 35th to landing on the podium in 3rd place, in good company with Marco Odermatt (SUI) and Matthias Mayer (AUT).

An impressive feat on its own, this is only amplified by the fact that just three short years ago no one was sure if Broderick would ever race again. During a training run at Nakiska he crashed, suffering a dislocated knee, torn ACL, MCL, LCL, and a completely ruptured patella tendon. 

“There are a lot of athletes who have not been able to overcome an injury that severe,” says Declan Norris, men’s team IST lead and head therapist. 

“I don’t have words to describe my emotions (about coming third). It’s incredible, I’m so happy. I’ve been through a lot of injuries in my career so to finally land on the podium, it’s indescribable,” Broderick says.

In addition to Broderick’s success on the podium, teammate Trevor Philp reinforced for the group that starting numbers don’t dictate results, charging from bib 52 to finish 18th.

With this inspiration acting as fuel in their tanks, the team hit the hill hard the next day with Jack Crawford, Brodie Seger, Riley Seger and Broderick all landing in the points. Team youngster Riley Seger’s showing was especially telling. Starting with bib 57, Riley showed the hill no mercy and blasted his way down into 22nd and in the points for the first time in his racing career. Jack Crawford also improved his performance from the previous day, finishing 12th and first Canadian on the results list.

A couple of years ago, just one member of the team earning points would have counted as a success for head coach John Kucera. But today he knows the team is capable of more.

“This is just the beginning,” says John. “Getting these results is a great team performance, but I know there’s more in the tank.”

With this being one of the first speed weekends of the season, there’s no doubt that we’ll see more from this exciting young team of Canadian ski racers.

FULL RESULTS FROM SUPER-G

December 2:

• Broderick Thompson (3) 1:09.56 (+0.95) 
• Trevor Philp (18) 1:10.52 (+1.91)
• James Crawford (29) 1:11.08 (+2.47)
• Jeffrey Read (44) 1:12.36 (+3.75)
• Brodie Seger and Riley Seger DNF

December 3:

• James Crawford (12) 1:11.86 (+1.60)
• Broderick Thompson (20) 1:12.20 (+1.94)
• Riley Seger (22) 1:12.24 (+1.98)
• Brodie Seger (26) 1:12.35 (+2.09)
• Jeffrey Read (41) 1:13.42 (+3.16)
• Trevor Philp DNF