Anne Heggtveit
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| Olympic medalist | |||
Anne Heggtveit shows her skiing gold medal in slalom won in Squaw Valley |
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| Women’s alpine skiing | |||
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| Gold | 1960 Squaw Valley | Slalom | |
Anne Heggtveit (born January 11, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian alpine skier.
Her father, Halvor Heggtveit, a Canadian cross-country champion, encouraged her at a young age. A student at Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, she learned to ski in the nearby Gatineau Hills of Quebec. In 1954, at the age of 15, she first gained international attention when she became the youngest winner ever of the Holmenkollen Giant Slalom event in Norway. She also won a first in slalom and giant slalom in the United States national junior championships. Although she suffered from several injuries between 1955 and 1957, she still earned a spot on Canada's team at age 17 at the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
At a time when Europeans dominated alpine skiing, Heggtveit was inspired by the breakthrough performance of countrywoman Lucille Wheeler who had won both the downhill and giant slalom events at the 1958 World Championships. At the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, California, Heggtveit won Canada's first-ever Olympic skiing gold medal. Her victory in the Olympic slalom event also made her the first non-European to win the International Ski Federation slalom and overall world championship. She was the first North American to win the Arlberg-Kandahar Trophy, the most prestigious and classic event in alpine skiing. In her native Canada, her performance on the world stage was recognized when she was made a member of the Order of Canada, her country's highest civilian honor. In addition, she was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding athlete of 1960.
Heggtveit was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1960. She was voted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971 and in 1982 was among the first group inducted into the new Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.
Heggtveit has a ski run named after her at the Camp Fortune Ski Resort just outside of Ottawa.
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| 1948: Gretchen Fraser | 1952: Andrea Mead-Lawrence | 1956: Renée Colliard | 1960: Anne Heggtveit | 1964: Christine Goitschel | 1968: Marielle Goitschel | 1972: Barbara Cochran | 1976: Rosi Mittermaier | 1980: Hanni Wenzel | 1984: Paoletta Magoni | 1988: Vreni Schneider | 1992: Petra Kronberger | 1994: Vreni Schneider | 1998: Hilde Gerg | 2002: Janica Kostelić | 2006: Anja Pärson |
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| 1932: Rösli Streiff | 1933: Inge Wersin-Lantschner | 1934: Christl Cranz | 1935: Christl Cranz | 1936: Evelyn Pinching | 1937: Christl Cranz | 1938: Christl Cranz | 1939: Christl Cranz | 1948: Trude Beiser | 1954: Ida Schöpfer | 1956: Madeleine Berthod | 1958: Frieda Dänzer | 1960: Anne Heggtveit | 1962: Marielle Goitschel | 1964: Marielle Goitschel | 1966: Marielle Goitschel | 1968: Nancy Greene | 1970: Michèle Jacot | 1972: Annemarie Pröll | 1974: Fabienne Serrat | 1976: Rosi Mittermaier | 1978: Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1980: Hanni Wenzel | 1982: Erika Hess | 1985: Erika Hess | 1987: Erika Hess | 1989: Tamara McKinney | 1991: Chantal Bournissen | 1993: Miriam Vogt | 1996: Pernilla Wiberg | 1997: Renate Götschl | 1999: Pernilla Wiberg | 2001: Martina Ertl | 2003: Janica Kostelić | 2005: Janica Kostelić | 2007: Anja Pärson |
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| Preceded by Barbara Wagner & Bob Paul |
Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1960 |
Succeeded by Bruce Kidd |
Categories: 1939 births | Canadian alpine skiers | Olympic gold medalists for Canada | Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics | Living people | Members of the Order of Canada | Norwegian Canadians | Olympic alpine skiers of Canada | Ontario sportspeople | People from Ottawa