Former ‘Crazy Canuck’ speaks on teamwork and Olympics

Photo by Annalee Grant

“It was very unlikely that I would become a world-class skier,” said Olympic bronze medalist, and a member of the ‘Crazy Canuck’ era of skiers, Steve Podborski.

But that unlikely event happened in 1980, when Podborski stood on the Olympic podium in Lake Placid to accept his bronze medal for downhill skiing – as the first North American to win an Olympic medal in downhill skiing. He got there with more than just training and his abilities; he got to the podium through innovation, preparation and teamwork – which are Canada’s plans heading into the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Podborski was the key note speaker this morning at the Sport and Recreation Leadership Summit being held at the Westmark Inn this weekend. The event is hosted by the Aboriginal Sport Circle.

Podborski’s career started out early, he told the large crowd gathered to attend the conference.

It was realized in the ‘70s that if Canada was to become a top contender on the world stage in ski racing, they had to simulate the conditions that European athletes had, which is access to world-class hills year round, and perfect conditions.

“If you’re going to beat the Europeans, you have to ski a little in the summer,” said Podborski. “Europeans are into skiing like Canadians are into hockey. They’re ski freaks.”

This led Podborski from Don Mills, Ont. to Whistler, B.C. with a group of avid skiers to the top of the Whistler ski hill during the summers, camped out in tents in order to be up at the crack of dawn to hit the slopes for the best possible ski
conditions.

“It ain’t easy to be a ski racer along the way,” said Podborski.

In his first summer, Podborski says he was unprepared for the cold, with a sleeping bag he says was good enough for camping out in the backyard at home in Ontario.

After he returned, he swore he was finished, and vowed to never spend a summer on top of Whistler again – until the next summer came and his mother, also a skier, bought him an even better sleeping bag.

Podborski spent the next summer, overheating “with one leg in the sleeping bag,” and battling the mosquitoes that lived atop Whistler mountain.

After his brutal summers spent in Whistler, Podborski began his racing career. It was in Kimberley, B.C. that he made the national ski team as a 16 year-old – which got his coach, Butch Boutry, in a bit of hot water.

It was unheard of at the time for someone so young to be on a ski team, and Boutry lost his job over the decision – which probably had Boutry’s bosses kicking themselves a few years later when Podborski began raking in the wins.

This was the beginning of the innovation that led to the success of the Crazy Canucks.

Podborski remembers heading into one of his first big races in Europe, and being scared. He expressed his concerns to Boutry that he wouldn’t be able to do it. He remembers Boutry being so sure that he could finish the race, and urges parents to remember that when speaking to their children.

“At no time should you ever think that any little moment with your kid is trivial,” said Podborski.

The moment with Boutry changed his outlook on racing.

The Canadian National Ski Team decided that each skier should specialize in downhill skiing, where there were less competitors.

“If you are going to do well, you have to do everything they do well, and one thing better,” said Podborski.

While training in Switzerland in the lead up to the 1976 Olympic Winter Games, Podborski tore out his knee, which got him a ticket back to Canada to live in his parent’s basement as the rest of the National team prepared for the Olympics without him.

“This is crazy stuff this Alpine ski racing,” said Podborski. Racers often reach speeds of 70 miles per hour or more. “When you’re going that fast you don’t turn by edging your skis. You turn by turning your head a bit and blowing across the hill.”

Podborski found himself in a cast he says went from his toe to his hip, alone as his parents went to the Olympics anyways, and questioning again whether he wanted to continue in the sport. His doubts faded as he found himself a “demon-crazed physiotherapy woman,” as he describes her, that helped him realize he did want to continue racing.

“You need one of those when you get injured,” said Podborski.

After his return to the ski scene, Podborski and the national team were faced with a question; “How do you beat the Europeans? That’s what we had to figure out,” he said.

And Canada came up with a plan, and it formed the Crazy Canucks.

The Crazy Canucks were made up of Podborski, Ken Read, Dave Irwin, ‘Jungle’ Jim Hunter and Dave Murray.

The young men formed an unusual team sport out of downhill ski racing.

Podborski says that what put them ahead of the Europeans is that team work.

They would come up with an original plan, that Read would make up based on his analysis of the track. The first skier to race would do their run, and immediately radio up the hill to the next Canadian waiting to go, to tell them how to shave off time. Podborski remembers being the first racer, with Read going in a heat behind him.

“I told him how to beat them,” he said. “But I told him how to beat me, too.”

This tactic saw Read surge to the head of the skiing world as the Europeans didn’t use team work in their approach to downhill skiing.

“Those little bits of innovation can change everything,” Podborski said.

The Europeans were shocked.

“The Europeans weren’t happy,” he said.

While the Crazy Canucks seemed to be a fluid winning machine, behind the scenes it wasn’t all friendly.

“So there we are, the Crazy Canucks and we’re all happy, right? No,” said Podborski.

He remembers tense moments before races as the racers prepared their equipment, when the teammates would have stare downs. One time, Podborski said, Irwin and Read sat filing down their bindings, even though it doesn’t effect wind resistance.

It wasn’t necessary to file the bindings, but Podborski says it gave Irwin an edge over the competition.

“He knew when he got in the starting gate, he had done everything he possibly could to prepare, and he was ready,” said Podborski. Irwin won that race. “The lesson is clear, just prepare a lot.”

Podborski learned alot from his experience at the 1980 Olympics. He describes himself as grumpy, back when he was ski racing, and on the day of the opening ceremonies in Lake Placid, he found himself standing ankle deep in mud as it rained, waiting for Canada’s turn in the stadium.

It was when he realized what he was about to do was a huge deal, and he thought to himself; “I’m with all the best athletes in Canada. That’s cool.”

He then looked around, and recognized top athletes from other parts of the world and thought, “I’m with all the best athletes in the world, and that’s really cool.”

It wasn’t just the athletes he walked into the stadium with, it was those watching that made it a special moment.

“And the best part of it (was), I look up in the stands and there’s my mom and dad, crying their eyes out,” said Podborski.

He went on to win a bronze medal in downhill skiing.

In 1998, long after his retirement from ski racing, Podborski was invited by Charmaine Crooks, an Olympic athlete herself, to join a group of athletes helping Canada bid for the Olympic games.

“What came into my mind like a banner was, ‘Oh my goodness, how old will I be in 2010?” Podborski laughed.

Through this group of athletes, Vancouver won the national competition as host city, and Podborski went on to help Canada’s bid internationally.

Podborski was in Prague when Vancouver was announced as the host city for the 2010 Olympics.

“I was delighted, at the same time it was like, uh oh, now we actually have to host the games,” said Podborski.

At this point Canada decided they wanted to top the world in medal wins at their own Olympics – a lofty goal.

After some research, it was discovered that if you are from the U.S. or Germany, and are a top five athlete in your sport, you have a 70 per cent chance of winning a medal, and in Canada if you are in the top five in your sport, you have a 30 per cent chance of winning a medal. The Canadian Olympic committee wanted to know why, and set a goal of coming in third in medals at the 2006 Turino Olympics, and first in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

“At the time I kind of chuckled, and said, ‘Well, that’s never going to happen,” said Podborski.

But Canada managed to pull it off, and did in fact come in third in medals in Turino.

This was due in part to conferences held for potential Olympic athletes at the top of their sport, where they were taught the value of teamwork, mastery and innovation, all topics of Podborski’s speech this morning.

“Talent and hard work equals miracles,” said Podborski.

“I was a mini-miracle,” he laughed, referring to his smaller size in relation to most Olympic athletes.

Podborski will act as Assistant Chef de Mission on the Canada Olympic team.

The Chef de Mission is essentially the team leader. When something goes wrong, they deal with it. Podborski says the Chef de Mission was the person who dealt with Jaime Sale and David Pelletier’s scandal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, when they were awarded a silver medal instead of gold, when they skated clean, and the Russian pair of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze had a technical error.

“They have a great deal of influence,” said Podborski. Sale and Pelletier were eventually awarded gold medals.

He will be living in the Olympic village with the athletes during the entire games.

Podborski is looking forward to what the Olympics will do for Canada.

“It’s already left a legacy of high performance,” said Podborski. “Even more importantly, it has transformed people’s attitude towards sport.”

He says it has also helped advance Canada’s bid for the summer Olympics.

The Sport and Recreation Leadership Summit continues this weekend until Sunday.