Turgeon the latest link joined to golden chain
of ski racing excellence

Fri 14 Feb 2003
Page: SS02
Section: Extreme Snow
Byline: Ken Read
Column: The White Circus
Source: Calgary Herald

The last time I was in St. Moritz, a Canadian was on the podium. It was
December 1982 when Steve Podborski began his string of successes that
ultimately captured the World Cup title. The remote Engadin Valley of Switzerland has been a friendly spot for Canadians. This thought had bubbled to the surface as we drove into this spectacular valley in the heart of the Alps this past weekend. Two trips, two victories—albeit separated by two decades. Melanie Turgeon’s win last weekend became the new link in a golden chain that now reaches across 45 years of Canadian ski racing excellence. Ever since Lucile Wheeler’s double gold win at the 1958 Alpine World Ski Championships in Bad Gastein, Austria, the torch has been passed from each generation to a new athlete in an unbroken connection.

As Lucile achieved her greatest success, her teammate was Anne Heggtveit. Anne subsequently went on to win Olympic gold at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley USA, Calif. Her roommate was a rookie athlete on the Olympic squad named Nancy Greene. Nancy, in turn, chose Betsy Clifford to be her roommate in 1968 when she won gold and silver in the Grenoble Games. And when Betsy stepped to the top of the podium in the 1970 World Championships of Val Gardena, Italy, a young Kathy Kreiner had just joined the tour. Kathy’s success at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck influenced Gerry Sorensen whose turn came at the 1982 Schladming World Championships, who in turn touched a young Kerrin Lee-Gartner for her turn at 1992 Albertville Games and Kate Pace-Lindsay who stepped up one year later in 1993. And joining Kate and Kerrin as a rookie at those rain and snow swept world championships of Morioka, Japan was . . . Melanie Turgeon.

Lucile set an expectation, a mindset that Canadians could win at the major
events. It’s not well-known that Lucile is actually Canada’s most successful ski racer at major alpine ski events. She won three medals in 1958: double gold: downhill and giant slalom—along with silver in the combined. This
closed a career that also included Canada’s first alpine Olympic medal at
the 1956 Cortina Games and a number of international ski titles in the era
before the World Cup brought order and focus to the annual ski tour.
The torch has been subsequently passed from generation to generation. It’s
not built on an explicit expectation, but a belief that gold is eminently
achievable.

In the broader landscape of Canadian sport, the Alpine World Ski Championships are not well understood. The success of the annual World Cup, which is built on the principle that each race is a world championship, has sown confusion. Yet, the Alpine World Championship was the original gathering of all nations, pre-dating the participation of alpine skiing in the Olympics by 10 years and subsequently alternating every two years as the high point of the ski calendar. Only since the creation of the World Cup in 1966 has the concept of the world championships become fuzzy and only in North America. As the Canadian team rebuilds, the world championships are a significant benchmark to measure the foundation of athletic and organizational success.

St. Moritz was the first step in a journey toward the Olympic Winter Games
of Toroino in 2006, the first evaluation of Podium 2010, the multi-year
program to return Canadian skiing to a track of excellence, to leadership of
the sport. The next stop will be Bormio and the 2005 Championship in-between, the World Cup offers Canada’s best alpine ski racers a weekly barometer, to be constantly moving forward, seeking new personal bests to aim above the ever-raising bar of Olympic sport. The World Cup should, in no way, diminish the value of the championships and what they have meant to Canadian sport. It’s two weeks, every two years, which requires focus for the 10 major titles.

In turn, the biannual World Championship provides the foundation for the
other major test—the Olympics—which require the same focus for two
weeks every four years. It is fair to say that beyond Lucile Wheeler and Nancy Greene, none of the remaining seven “Golden Girls” enjoyed enormous success on the World Cup Tour. Betsy, Gerry and Kate won three each and Kathy one. Melanie also has one World Cup on her curriculum vitae, but her story is still being written. But they do share one common thread—a clear focus and a determination to win.

This is the chameleon nature of the world championships and the Olympics.
One race may not anoint the most successful or the most deserving ski racer, like the World Cup. But at the end of the day, a champion will emerge. This is a fact of sport. And true champions rise to the occasion.

~Ken Read, President of Alpine Canada Alpin