Brady Leman, Canada's 1st men's Olympic ski cross champion, to retire after World Cup Finals

Canadian Olympic champion Brady Leman will take one more trip down the hill on home soil this week before officially leaving competitive ski cross at age 36.

Leman announced his retirement Tuesday morning ahead of the World Cup Finals this weekend at Craigleith Ski Club in the Blue Mountains near Collingwood, Ont.

The former alpine racer enters the competition with five World Cup victories and 31 medal podiums on the ski cross circuit over his 15 years with the national team.

The Calgary native and resident also earned 2019 world championship silver, 2016 X-Games gold and 2010 bronze, but will be best remembered for winning Canada's first-ever men's Olympic ski cross medal five years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Leman came out of the Phoenix Snow Park gate fourth behind teammate Kevin Drury, who later crashed along with Russia's Sergey Ridzik, allowing Leman to take a comfortable lead on top-ranked Marc Bischofberger of Switzerland through the finish line.

The gold medal was sweet redemption for Leman, who was fourth in the 2014 Olympic big final in Sochi, Russia.

"I was really trying not to think about it as redemption because I don't think that'd be a good mindset to have but now that it's done, yeah," Leman, who learned to ski at 18 months, told reporters at the time.

"This blows [Sochi and Vancouver in 2010] out of the water. I broke my leg the day before competition in Vancouver and then just missing the podium in Sochi was kind of bittersweet. Fourth at the Games is a big accomplishment, but at the same time you're the first guy who doesn't get a medal."

Leman returned to the Olympics in February 2022, placing second in the small final and sixth overall.

"I'd have loved to follow up a medal or win again, but