Toronto ski champion is taking one last shot at the Olympic podium, Canada Reviews

At age 37, and with two Olympics already under his belt, Toronto skier Kevin Drury is feeling “relaxed” heading into the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. As the veteran athlete put it when he announced he would be representing Canada at the Games this year, this marks his “one last kick at the can.” He’s doing so after an incredibly successful recent season that ended in a gold medal at a ski cross World Cup event in December 2025 — Canada’s first in five years. Here, the freestyle skier gives us the rundown of how he’s prepared for his final shot at the podium.

Your event is coming up soon; how are you feeling?

[This] being my third Games definitely takes some pressure off. You get used to the atmosphere. That’s why I probably feel more relaxed than I have in the past.

Does the novelty wear off?

The novelty doesn’t wear off. The Olympics are incredible. It’s such a cool experience. The pressure, though, I definitely have got used to it. In the past, most of my pressure was put on by myself, which I guess most of the time it is, but it was more of a pressure of: this is such a big, big scale competition that a lot of people in the world are watching. You didn’t want to feel like a failure if you had a bad race. Eight years later from Pyeongchang, I’m definitely much more able to deal with that and just ski.

You performed super well this past year. Was there some motivation to make the Olympics?

The biggest factor was I got some injections in my knee, some protein-rich plasma injection. I’ve had patalitendonitis for four years and it was to the point where I was going to retire. It hurt to walk downstairs. That summer — I’d just gotten shoulder surgery from a crash in February 2024 — I figured if I’m out already, I might as well try these injections, and they worked amazing. I could finally ski without pain. That really just made the difference, focusing on the skiing and on myself rather than every time I go down the course, trying to avoid my knee hurting.

What are your hopes for the current games? Everyone obviously wants to medal, but how is it different for you this year?

Definitely a medal is obviously the goal, but at the same time, it’s ski cross and anything can happen. My main goal is just to execute my skiing, execute a good race. If I get lucky, great. If I get unlucky, that’s part of the sport. But I will walk away happy if I executed well and I didn’t lose because I made a mistake.

Name: Kevin Drury

Hometown: Toronto

Sport: Freestyle skiing

First Olympic event: Feb. 21, men’s ski cross

Social channels: @drury.kc

Since everyone is sectioned off, what’s the vibe like where you are?

It’s still amazing because there is every country. We have [in Livigno, the freestyle village] moguls, aerials, half pipe, slopestyle, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross. There are a ton of athletes in the village, so it is very cool to meet people that you don’t usually get to meet. But there is definitely one downside of being in these clusters: you don’t get to meet the sports outside of your field. 

We’re never around cross-country skiers and we’re never around ski jumpers — even for that matter, hockey players. I’ve had teammates in the past that got to go to Vancouver 2010, and they would say you could go down to the dining hall and you can sit with Sidney Crosby at breakfast. That would be freaking cool.

Do you find that you have more niche conversations because everyone is on the same page?

Totally. There’s absolutely that level of, it doesn’t matter how famous you are outside, especially on team Canada. You’re an Olympian here. It is just such a cool atmosphere that everyone has an equal level of respect for each athlete.

That’s very heartwarming.

In normal everyday life, I’m a three-time Olympian but if I walked up to Nathan McKinnon and was like, “Hey, do you wanna grab dinner?”, he’d be like, “Who are you?” But when you’re wearing Team Canada gear, and you’re in the village, everyone is on the same level playing field. 

Apart from the thrill of competing, what are you most looking forward to?

Representing Canada. I love wearing our Olympic suits. I love having the support that comes with being here. It’s incredible seeing just how many people are supporting not just me, but everyone on my team. It’s incredible.

There isn’t too much great skiing to be had in the Toronto region. How did you get into this?


I grew up in Moore Park. My parents would drive three and a half hours every weekend down just south of Buffalo to Ellicottville, New York. I fell in love with ski racing there, and it kind of progressed. We had some friends from Buffalo going to an academy in Lake Placid, New York. I decided, “Let’s try it,” and spent three years there. I made the Ontario ski team, did really well, but fell short of the national team in Alpine. Then I went to the University of Vermont and raced division one there. I was the national runner up. 

I was always the kid that, with all my slalom gear on, slalom skis, downhill suit, would go into the park and start hucking back flips. I like jumps, and I like the intensity of ski cross. I gave it a shot and fell in love with it immediately.

What goes through your mind when you’re doing a higher risk jump?

Honestly, joy. I love it. I think to be good at this sport you have to be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I love getting scared. I would say I’m very calculated with my risk. I’ve been in ski cross for 12 years and I’ve only been hurt twice, so pretty good. And those were just fluke things. It wasn’t like I made a mistake. It was just getting caught by another person’s ski. Not much goes through my head other than, “This is awesome. I love it.”

Do you have any advice for young athletes who are trying to get into the sport?

Certainly [for] ski cross, keep up your alpine career. To be really successful at ski cross, you need to have the foundations to be able to create speed out of a turn and be able to handle really high G-forces in turns. Everything else is a learning curve as you get older.

In terms of making the Olympics, what’s something you would want to tell your younger self?

Don’t give up. My dream when I was a very little kid was to make the Olympics, and I thought that that was going to be in alpine. There was definitely a period after school where I didn’t make the national team, so I could have tried to go solo for a year and requalify, but that just gets so expensive. One of my best friends was doing ski cross at the time. There where I thought, “I might just stop.” I didn’t, and I’m so thankful I didn’t. Never give in.

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