A Letter from Brady Leman

“Brady Leman is magic on skis.”

I once read, “Brady Leman is magic on skis. That’s because he does this disappearing act right from the starting gate — so it’s hard to keep up with him — he plants his poles and with a flick of the wrist — poof! He’s gone, zipping down the slope ahead of the others.”

While it’s great to read articles like this, I’d like you to know that it takes money, not praise to go for the gold.

As a proud member of Canada’s Olympic Ski Team I am anxious and excited to compete at the upcoming Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

My dream is to win gold for Canada

But such pursuits cost money and that is why I am writing today, I’m hoping you’ll support the Canadian Olympic Team. Your donation will help ensure we bring back even more medals than the last Winter Games in Vancouver (Canada’s best showing ever, by the way!).

I know we can do this because Canada has steadily increased its total medal count at every Olympic Winter Games since 1980.

Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to see our flag raised high while they play our national anthem

I always get choked up when I see my fellow athletes proudly standing on the podium and I know that’s where I want to be in February!

The 2010 winter games in Vancouver were heartbreaking for me

After battling a string of injuries, including breaking my leg the day before my race in Vancouver, I finally have a great season under my belt, winning 2 World Cup gold medals and ranking 2nd in the world. So I know I have a good chance to be on the podium in Sochi!

Skiing is in my blood. I learned to ski at the age of just 18 months, having grown up on the slopes of the Rockies with both my parents working in the ski industry. My dad was a race coach at Lake Louise for 10 years and my mother was a ski instructor at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park.

Ski Cross seemed like the perfect fit when I got the opportunity to switch from alpine to the action packed, head-to-head excitement of this form of competition. I jumped at the chance and made the decision to turn down a spot on the Alpine World Cup Team and pave my way into the world of Ski Cross.

Here’s why Olympic Athletes need your help – now… more than ever.

Ski Cross is a highly physical and demanding sport. When you are competing with the best in the world, with countries that often spend much more on their sport programs than Canada, our Olympic hopefuls need help with funding to keep training vigorously, stay healthy and not worry about where the next dollar will come from.

I have been training 40 hours a week and my sights are squarely set on Sochi. I want to be on the podium in 2014 as do all the other athletes that are training 24/7. Please, do your part my making a donation today and I promise to do my part to make us all proud in Sochi.

Sincerely,

Brady Leman
World Cup Ski Cross Gold and Silver Medallist

Calgary-based Leman is an important member of the Alpine Canada Ski Cross team. A former alpine racer, he switched to Ski Cross in 2008. Leman broke his leg three times and suffered heartbreak at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games after being added to the Canadian Team to replace an injured teammate, only to re-injure himself and be forced to withdraw from the Games. He made a storybook return to competition in 2011-12 when he won the season-opening World Cup race in Italy. Leman has five career World Cup medals and has been the top-ranked male Canadian racer for the past two seasons.