Brian Stemmle

Brian Stemmle was a gifted skier was ranked 7th in the world in downhill in just two short seasons. However, in 1989, Brian experienced a near-fatal crash while racing in Austria, one of the worst accidents in ski history.  Remarkably he returned to the circuit and won a gold medal at the Pan Am Winter Games after spending over three months recovering in hospital and countless hours of rehabilitation.  His four Olympic appearances (1988 Calgary, 1992 Albertville, 1994 Lillehammer, 1998 Nagano) is unmatched by any other Canadian skier in history and his accomplishments include 11 top 10 World Cup finishes. Brian now does colour commentary for Rogers Sportsnet on its broadcasts of World Cup sking  In his 15-years of competition at the international level 1985 to 1999. He competed in Federation Internationale  de Ski (FIS) races, on the FIS World Cup circuit and World Championship 93 times, placing in the top-10 on 15 occasions, and standing on the podium 7-times (2- Gold medals  2-Silver and 3- Bronze). Although he was best known as a downhill specialist, he was also adept at the Super G, his best placing being a World Cup 3rd at Furano, Japan, in 1985.