CRAZY CANUCK NOW CHEF DE MISSION

The Canadian Olympic Committee has named former downhill skier Steve Podborski chef de mission for the Canadian team that will compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. “It’s such an honour,” said Podborski from Calgary during the official announcement Friday. Podborski is one of Canada’s renowned “Crazy Canucks” — the group of downhillers known for the reckless, yet winning ways on the slopes in the 1970s and ‘ 80s. The Don Mills, Ont., native became the first North American male to win an Olympic medal in the downhill when he captured bronze in Lake Placid in 1980. Podborski went on to win eight World Cup races.