Brutal Bormio could be kinder to Canada’s Olympic downhillers

Bormio in February is not Bormio in December.

The men’s alpine ski course for the 2026 Olympic Games is a regular stop on the World Cup circuit. 

Canadians have been successful there in December downhills. They say the Stelvio slope, with its 1,010-metre vertical drop and speeds hitting 100 kilometres per hour, is a hairy ride.

“Uh, scary?” said Cameron Alexander, who was third in Bormio’s last two downhills.

“It and Kitzbuehel are probably the most intimidating tracks that we race. Bormio, maybe even a little bit more so. Bormio is just consistently scary the whole way down. Kitzbuehel has more probably high-risk features at the very start and the finish, but Bormio’s just like, you have to be on it the whole way because it really doesn’t let up. 

“It’s dark, and it’s bumpy. It’s intense.”

Bormio’s track, says his teammate Brodie Seger, “is just frying your legs by the bottom.”

The first of three scheduled training runs for the Olympic men’s downhill is on Wednesday. Saturday’s race offers the first alpine ski medals of the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

Bronze medallists Steve Podborski (1980) and Edi Podivinsky (1994) are the only Canadians to step on the Olympic podium in men’s downhill.

Toronto’s James (Jack) Crawford was a bronze medallist in alpine combined in Beijing in 2022. He claimed a World Cup silver in a Bormio downhill in 2022.

“I’ve always known Bormio as this super, super dark, icy, gnarly track,” Crawford said. “In February, it might look a little bit different. There might be a little more sun. It’s a different time of year than when we normally race it. 

“Really just want to go in with an open mindset and see what the slope gives because it could be completely different from what we’re used to.”

Crawford was victorious, and North Vancouver’s Alexander joined him on the podium in third in Kitzbuehel last year, which Seger called “one of the wildest days of our team’s career.”

Their coach and former world downhill champion, John Kucera, says the men’s speed team has the depth and the talent in downhill and super-G to produce Olympic medals in Italy.

“The only thing that you’re really going to be happy with is walking away with the medal,” Kucera said.

“It’s a hill that we’re comfortable on in December, where it’s at its most challenging. Bormio is a different hill in February. With just the light being different and everything, it just changes the complexion of that mountain, and it should be less of an intimidating track. 

“We should be hopefully going in there with at least four athletes who are comfortable with that mountain and have an opportunity to be successful. That doesn’t always translate into results, but at least it puts us in a good standing where we’re not trying to figure out a mountain.”

North Vancouver’s Seger ranked third after the downhill leg of alpine combined in Beijing, and placed ninth after the slalom run. He’s been working his way back into the world’s top 10 after a knee injury at the 2023 world championship.

“Whenever I think about these Games, it always takes me back to Beijing, where I left there feeling like this was such a cool experience,” said the 29-year-old. 

“I have more to give. I want to be on this stage again. I want another shot.”

Calgary’s Jeff Read, son of Crazy Canuck Ken Read, has posted top-10 results in both downhill and super-G since 2022, when he was an alternate on the Olympic team.

“That was a very pivotal part in my career. It was kind of the wake-up call that I needed to rethink things, I need to make things happen,” Read said. “I proceeded to have two really strong years following that, looking to kind of rebound off that.

“I don’t want to just show up to participate. It’s the Olympics. You’ve got to shoot your shot, and anything can happen.”

The men’s Olympic super-G is Feb. 11. 

Crawford, 28, won world championship super-G gold in 2023 when Alexander also earned downhill bronze.

Alexander’s been a regular podium contender when healthy. The 28-year-old sustained a season-ending knee injury in 2020 and reinjured it in the spring of 2022. 

His 2024-25 season was cut short, injuring the same knee at last year’s world championship.

“Getting a medal at the Olympics is on the bucket list of things that I want to achieve,” Cameron said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.