Cody Coverchuk Positioned Second in Early 2026 Championship Race After Coming Back From Serious Injury in 2025

AIRDRIE, Alta. – While a two-time PBR Canada Champion leads the 2026 title race, another two-time title holder is quietly sitting second.

Cody Coverchuk has entered four PBR Canada events in 2026 and has placed in all but one of them, starting the season a strong 5-for-8. It's the kind of steady start that doesn't always grab headlines — but it's exactly how championships are built.

There's also a part of the story many don't know.

Last season began well for Coverchuk, with a consistent first half of the campaign, before a serious injury changed everything. In July, at Cody Snyder’s Charity Bullbustin', Coverchuk broke his back and was sidelined for three months.

It's an injury no rider takes lightly. But because the break wasn't in a life-threatening location, Coverchuk said he focused on what he could control, staying positive, doing the work, and getting back in the arena.

"It was going good that week. I started off really good. I rode all my bulls up to that point and then the fourth day, I got on Blurred Lines, from the X6 Ranch," Coverchuk recalled. "The bull just bucked, and just a freak accident — one of those things.

"I just landed on my head weird, and I felt something. I knew something wasn't right, right away, and then it was kind of disbelief. Cowboy Christmas was just ending, and I didn't really have the greatest Cowboy Christmas, so, you know, I was kind of looking forward to getting going and keeping that run rolling from Bullbustin'."

Coverchuk was back at his camper the following day after the injury, but he believes the work he'd already put in at the gym gave him a head start on recovery, knowing he had strong muscle support around the area.

Still, the injury came with important precautions moving forward.

"They told me I’m running a higher risk of being paralyzed. Every time you get on a bull, you run a risk of being paralyzed or being hurt. I just run about a 5% more chance of that happening if something went wrong," Coverchuk explained.

"Everybody runs a risk every time. Every time we get on a bull, we know the risk. So I just had to put that aside and move forward. I still feel great."

When he returned to competition for the Cup Series event in Grande Prairie, Alberta, in late September and came through without an issue, Coverchuk said it was a relief, not just physically, but mentally, to know everything still felt normal.

" It was definitely a sigh of relief once I rode a couple good bulls that I knew that my body and brain were still firing as much as I used to," Coverchuk said.

With a solid start to 2026 underway, Coverchuk says now is the time to keep it simple: put your head down, focus on yourself, and let your riding do the talking.

"You know, honestly, there's no one hotter than Nick [Tetz] right now. He's definitely taking the spotlight on that aspect of things," Coverchuk laughed.

"I'm just going to keep doing what I do. Show up. I'm going to keep my head down and I'm going to let my riding do the talking."

Coverchuk said the goal for every rider each year is the same: be the one holding the big cheque and the gold buckle at season's end. And while the 32-year-old wants to become only the second three-time PBR Canada Champion in history, he also believes fans should keep a close eye on the sport's newest wave of talent.

"There's a good group of rookies that came up this year that we've all been riding against. Just some good young rookies, and I like the way they go about it. They're kind of old-school rank where they can go out there and spur bulls," Coverchuk said.

"I'll just keep showing up and doing what I do and just trying to compete with those young guys, keeping that fire stoked."

As for a favourite stop on the 2026 schedule, Coverchuk says he's already looking forward to the Brooks-to-Camrose weekend in early May, the point in the season when the calendar starts to load up, and a stretch where he's had strong results in the past.

"I love that Brooks and Camrose weekend. I've never really had any luck at Brooks, but Camrose has been really good to me," Coverchuk said.

"Coy [Robbins] goes above and beyond every year and they really look after the riders,” Coverchuk said. “They put on such a good show. It feels like you are going to a Cup Series event. It takes a lot to get an atmosphere like that in Camrose. It checks all the boxes to be a Cup Series event. It feels exactly the same, it's just the crowd and everything. I can't wait."