OUT OF THE GATE
He said the family had received many messages of support. “We would like to say ‘Thank you’ for
that. I didn’t know we had so many friends.”
Zoricic is survived by his father, his mother, Silvia, and a sister, Katarina, a law student.
“Nik was a very talented young skier and a great athlete who was much loved by his fellow team-
mates and fellow competitors,” said Canadian team president Max Gartner. “He will be greatly missed
by all of us and the ski com-
munity as a whole.”
Questions about the safety
of the Grindelwald course
were downplayed by Gart-
ner and others.
“We’re pretty confident that
this was a World Cup race
and there’s lots of rules and
regulations, and inspectors
on site,” Gartner said. “It’s
not fair to make statements
from afar.” Gartner added
that “lots of races” place a
jump close to the finish line.
“It’s probably just as safe
doing our sport as driving down the highway,” said Zoricic’s teammate and Olympic gold medal win-
ner Ashleigh McIvor. “I don’t think the finger should be pointed at any of the organization. At every
single event they [the FIS] step in and make the course safer.”
Fellow Ontarian Dave Duncan was Zoricic’s longtime roommate on the road. “Nik and I have known
each other since he was 14 and I was 15,” he said. “I’ve known him for 15 years. We grew up racing
together in Collingwood. It’s been an incredible ride, one that he’s added to tremendously. You know
exactly where you stand with that guy. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He had a zest for life and
competition and loved what he was and what he was doing — and it showed. He had a fire in his
belly and he wanted to be successful. It’s going to be hard without him. Everything is different now
— it’s not going to be the same.”
The Canadian team ended up claiming the Nations Cup, immediately dedicating the crystal globe
to Zoricic. “We’ve got a great group of staff and we’ve got a great group of kids – men and women
– and they know what Nik would want us to do,” said coach Archer, “and that is to not let this knock
us down and keep him with us.”
The site of the crash.
