Canadian skier Nik Zoricic will be remembered as a “genuine guy” who had time for everyone by one of the coaches at Craigleith Ski Club, where the elite athlete trained.
“Nik was someone that everyone just wanted to be around,” said head coach Dave Campbell. “He had all the time in the world for anyone. He loved giving back to the club. He was just a genuine guy.”
Zoricic died on Saturday from head injuries after crashing in a World Cup skicross event in Switzerland.
The 29-year-old from Toronto, Ont. took the final jump in the course, but landed wide into safety nets. Zoricic tumbled before his limp body came to a stop. A medical team tried to revive him, but Zoricic was pronounced dead at a hospital in Interlaken, where he had been airlifted.
The fast-paced and physical sport, first introduced at the Winter X Games in 1999, is known for its inherent risks. It pits up to six athletes against each other as they maneuver a ski slope with turns, jumps, rolls, banks and ridges.
Campbell said Zoricic was attracted to the extreme sport because of the thrill and the adrenaline.
“He was a super competitive athlete who loved skiing and that event highlighted all the attributes of a great athlete,” he said. “Just watching him ski was something special.”
Zoricic had been part of the club, where his father Bebe also coaches, for years. Campbell said he always had time for the younger athletes and will be missed by the whole club – an organization that’s slogan is “a community of friends and family.”
“Distraught, shocked, saddened. It’s not a good feeling here,” he said of the mood at the club on Saturday, where the Ontario Winter Games and Provincial Championships were taking place.
The pain of Zoricic’s death reverberated far beyond his home club. Words of condolence and signs of solidarity are pouring in as everyone from Zoricic’s fellow skiers to downright strangers rally around his loved ones.
“I’m still here, old already, and he’s so young and gone. I don’t know what to say,” said Zoricic’s grandmother Sophia Brudar.
Brudar said she couldn’t believe what happened, always expecting the “good boy” and “good athlete” to come home.
“He was liked by everyone. Good guy. Good man,” she said. “Why do bad things happen to good guys?”
It’s the second time this year that a bad thing has happened to a member of the Canadian freestyle team. Sarah Burke, also 29, died in January after a training accident in Park City, Utah.
Ashleigh McIvor, the first female to win an Olympic gold medal in skicross, said she’s known Zoricic since they were 13-years-old and qualified to represent Canada together at a race in Italy.
“Those guys are like my brothers and the girls are like my sisters, obviously this is just absolutely horrible,” she said.
McIvor said she’s lost a lot of friends on the mountain, an unfortunate reality of extreme sports.
“We do these sports because we love them and there are risks associated with them and there is only so much we can do to minimize those risks,” she said.
Many of Zoricic’s teammates remain in Switzerland and are planning a private, candlelight vigil at the bottom of the race track where he died.
“You can imagine that everybody in the organization is just devastated with getting the news this morning,” said Max Gartner, president of Alpine Canada. “We want to make sure we are focused on supporting the family and the team.”
The Olympic community also expressed its sadness at the news of Zoricic’s death.
"Nik was an inspiring example of the passion in sport so important to our national pride and identity,” Marcel Aubut, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and everyone in the ski and sport community during this difficult time.”
Retired Canadian skier Brian Stemmle shared his sadness on Twitter, writing: “I can’t believe this tragic news. Nik Zoricic has died? I’m sick to my stomach.”
Kelly VanderBeek, a Canadian alpine racer, tweeted that she grew up with Zoricic.
“I’m a mess, so I can only imagine how his family is. I’m so very sorry. Sending love,” she wrote.
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