CityNews exclusive: Father of late skier Nik Zoricic speaks out
Posted March 11, 2012 4:08 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Just one day after losing his son Nik after a crash at a World Cup skicross event in Switzerland, Bebe Zoricic is speaking out on the life that was cut short.
“He was good looking you boy – he was playing and enjoying life- he did enjoy life no question,” said Zoricic.
The Toronto skier died from fatal injuries he suffered Saturday at an event in Grindelwald, Switzerland. Nik Zoricic went wide over the final jump and crashed hard into safety nets lining the side of the course.
“It looked like he died quick and didn’t suffer much. I didn’t see the video yet, I’m not ready for that yet. I saw a picture, he’s laying at the bottom by the finish line but when I have a bit more strength I think I’ll look and watch,” said Zoricic
“At the end we gave Nik to ski racing but it was joy, it was no regrets.”
Nik was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, one year before the city hosted the 1984 Winter Games as part of the former Yugoslavia. He moved to Canada at age five, where his father became an established alpine coach at the Craigleith Ski Club, about 150 kilometres north of Toronto.
“Maybe we can learn from this incident, maybe make it safer,” Zoricic said.
The sport of skicross debuted at the 2010 Olympics. It has four racers going down the hill at one time, and has been called “Nascar on skis.”
Zoricic says his son recently told him he was planning on retiring in 2014 and heading back to school.
“To be father of that person I am proud and family for sure.”
Funeral details are still being arranged, but the family says Nik will likely be buried in Collingwood, where he trained for much of his life.
His death came just two months after Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke died from injuries sustained in a crash during halfpipe training in Park City, Utah. The resident of Squamish, B.C., was also 29.
With files from The Canadian Press and CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt.
