Canada’s Kevin Drury injured in ski cross crash, still takes silver in final race
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KOPAONIK – Kevin Drury’s ski cross career ended in a pileup — and on the podium.
The Canadian freestyle veteran was injured in a violent crash in the men’s big final at a World Cup stop Friday but was still awarded second place.
Contact at the front of the pack sent several racers tumbling, with Drury, from Toronto, caught in the wreckage. The extent of his injury was not immediately known.
Drury and Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann were ruled tied in the heat after the crash, with qualification results used as the tiebreaker. Drury had qualified third to Wilmsmann’s 11th, giving the Canadian silver.
Germany’s Tim Hronek won his first career World Cup race after being the only skier to clear a key gate cleanly, where the crash unfolded.
After the race, Drury wrote on Instagram that it was “not the way I wanted my career to end, but I’ll take the podium.”
The post included a photo of the 37-year-old lying in bed with his lower leg heavily bandaged and elevated.
Hronek later dedicated the win to Drury, who had been planning to retire after this season.
“It’s very sad, man,” Hronek said. “He’s such a nice skier.”
The podium comes two months after Drury opened the season with a victory in Val Thorens — his sixth career World Cup win and first in five seasons — and marked the 20th World Cup podium of his career.
Canada’s Reece Howden, the World Cup leader from Chilliwack, B.C., crossed the finish line first but was handed a yellow card for line deviation and placed fourth.
“It’s feeling super weird because you had a crash and then you’re first,” Hronek said. “It’s not how we want to race here, but I’m super happy. I was ready for today. I was passing all the rounds, and I was like on fire. The perfect day for me.”
Wilmsmann had been quickest out of the gate, with Drury 0.06 seconds behind and Howden another 0.03 seconds back. As Wilmsmann challenged Howden early, the two made contact. Wilmsmann fell, taking out Hronek and Drury behind him.
Wilmsmann called it “a racing incident” and added: “We just hope Kevin is doing all right.”
In the women’s race, Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund captured her 45th career World Cup victory. France’s Jade Grillet Aubert finished second and compatriot Marielle Berger Sabbatel third. Ottawa’s Hannah Schmidt was the top Canadian in fourth place.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2026.