Can skiing's scariest race turn Canada's fortunes around?

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It's been a pretty exciting Olympic season in alpine skiing.

The biggest story, of course, is the incredible re-apex of 41-year-old American star Lindsey Vonn. Injuries forced the four-time World Cup overall champion to limp away from the sport in 2019 with a then-record 82 career victories on the women's tour. Equipped with a new titanium knee, she returned last season and, after some mixed results, won a silver in her final race, becoming by far the oldest woman to reach an alpine World Cup podium. Now, more than a year into her comeback, Vonn has emerged as a gold-medal favourite for what will be her sixth Olympics. She's won a medal in all five women's downhills so far this season, including a pair of golds, while reaching the podium in seven of her eight starts overall.

We've also seen an impressive comeback by five-time overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S., who broke Vonn's all-time World Cup women's wins record in 2023. After a nasty puncture wound derailed her hopes for a ninth slalom Crystal Globe last year, Shiffrin has bounced back to win six of the seven slaloms so far this season, with a silver in the other one.

Plus, there's the timely return of reigning women's overall champ Federica Brignone of Italy. She finished sixth yesterday in her first race since shattering her leg last April, putting her on track to compete in her home Olympics next month.

On the men's side, Swiss star Marco Odermatt continues to amaze. His seven wins in 15 starts this season have given him a massive lead in the chase for his fifth consecutive overall title, and