Todd Brooker

Born in Waterloo, Ontario, 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 circuit from December 1981 to January 1987. A younger member of the Crazy Canucks (Canada's downhill team) of the early 1980s Brooker won two World Cup downhill races at (Kitzbühel & Aspen) in 1983 finishing ninth in the season's overall downhill standings. Two years later, he won the downhill race in Furano, Japan 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 and the 1985 World Championships.

The Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria, 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, Steve Podborski, 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 1987 with the most gut wrenching spectacular ragdoll head-over-heels cartwheeling fall ever captured on film.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIu1ehx2vfI | title=- YouTube | website=YouTube }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=79YyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6164%2C1225022 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Training-run crash sends Brooker to hospital |last=Starkman |first=Randy |date=23 January 1987 |page=B1 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8NYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4347%2C1981459|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Brooker injured in spectacular crash |agency=Canadian Press |date=24 January 1987 |page=E2}} 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.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8dYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1230%2C2586865 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Brooker loves course that causes pain |last=Starkman |first=Randy |date=26 January 1987 |page=B4}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G78yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i-8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1385%2C1055126 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Brooker yet to decide on ski future |agency=Canadian Press |date=12 February 1987 |page=D6}}

Brooker finished his World Cup career with three victories, seven podiums, and 15 top ten finishes, all in downhill.[http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/613.html?sector=AL&listid=&competitorid=7318&type=result&rec_start=0&limit=100 FIS-ski.com] - race results - Todd Brooker

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

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. He has covered alpine skiing for numerous Winter Olympics for U.S. television, and currently provides commentary and analysis on CBC in Canada during the World Cup ski season. Brooker covered alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics for NBC in the United States.

Brooker lives on a farm in rural Ontario near Thornbury, with his wife and three daughters.[http://www.sonicrelief.com/toddbrooker/index.cfm Sonic Relief.com] - Todd Brooker

Brooker also made an appearance at the 2011 Crabbe Mountain Speed Camp, a camp where kids from across Atlantic Canada go to learn the discipline known as Super G.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

• Crazy Canucks

{{reflist}}

• {{sports links}}
• {{Ski-DB}}
• [http://www.skimuseum.ca/biodata.php?lang=en&id=8 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame] – Todd Brooker – inducted 1991

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Category:1959 births

Category:Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics

Category:Canadian male alpine skiers

Category:Canadian sports announcers

Category:Living people

Category:Olympic alpine skiers for Canada

Category:Olympic Games broadcasters

Category:Skiing announcers

Category:Sportspeople from Waterloo, Ontario

Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen