Alpine Skiing

WHISTLER, B.C. - Steve Podborski, a former member of the Crazy Canucks downhill team that invigorated Canadian interest in skiing and winter sports in the 1970s and '80s, has never been far from the Olympics.

The Ontario-born skier earned a place in Canadian Olympic folklore as the most decorated member of the Crazy Canucks, a team of four skiers who seemed to come out of nowhere when they started winning World Cups against their favoured European competitors.

The four - Podborski, Ken Read, Dave Irwin and Dave Murray - earned 107 top-10 World Cup finishes between 1978 and 1984.

Podborski won eight World Cup races and captured a bronze medal at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y. - a Canadian first for a male skier _ but he retired in 1984, the same year he failed to make the podium at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics.

Still, even though he hasn't competed in more than two decades, that hasn't stopped Podborski from finding his way into the 2010 Winter Olympics - an early supporter of the bid who, during the Games, will be an assistant chef de mission for the Canadian team.

And now, with the start of the Olympics less than a week away, Podborski is soaking up the excitement in Whistler, where he has lived since 1991.

"I'm really feeling a satisfaction that we've got just a week to go to the opening of the Games and it's going to happen,'' Podborski said Friday after skiing down Whistler Mountain with the Olympic torch to a community celebration waiting below.

"It's been a lot of work, a long time, and this is a fantastic fruition of those efforts.''

After retirement, Podborski was a regular face on American Olympics coverage, serving as a commentator for NBC and CBS during a long list of Games that included Salt Lake City, Athens and Nagano, Japan.

When local organizers started putting together a bid for Vancouver and Whistler to host the 2010 Olympics, Podborski was there, eventually becoming the bid committee's executive director of international relations.

During the Games, he will be an assistant chef de mission for the Canadian team, representing the athletes to the media and the public.

And in some ways, Podborski says he and the rest of the Crazy Canucks have left a lasting influence that can still be felt among athletes and spectators.

"It seems to me that the Crazy Canucks made a difference in Canadian sport,'' said Podborski.

"We were a small part of the change in Canadian culture that is happy with our athletes to be the best in the world, whereas before, it was a little too much to want to be best. Now, we can say, 'Yes, we want to be the best.'''

Podborski is an officer of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Canada Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.

The four original members received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2006.

Podborski will also be watching the performance of one of his teammate's daughters later this month: freestyle skier Julia Murray, daughter of Crazy Canuck Dave Murray, who died in 1990 of skin cancer.

On Friday, 21-year-old Julia Murray carried the flame up Whistler Mountain on a snowmobile to light Podborski's torch.

Murray is set to compete on Canada's Olympic ski cross team if, as she hopes, she can overcome a knee injury by then.

"She very well could win a medal, so we're very excited to watch her compete,'' said Podborski.

"I'm looking forward to watching her do her best and really doing it well.''

As for Murray, she said she doesn't mind living in the shadow of her father's time with the Crazy Canucks.

"I don't take it as pressure,'' she said. "It's more something to be proud of for me, and a legacy to carry on.''