Anne Heggtveit wins slalom gold in 1960
Broadcast Date: Dec. 31, 1960
It doesn't take long for CBC Radio to get a reaction from Anne Heggtveit after the 21-year-old wins the slalom event at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Cal. The Ottawa-born skier is still battling for breath when the microphone is put in front of her. "We had two hours to study the course yesterday afternoon, and I think I was the only girl ... who didn't go up and study it," she says in this interview. "Instead I went to bed early last night and had a good night's sleep."Anne Heggtveit wins slalom gold in 1960
• Anne Heggtveit was born on Jan. 11, 1939. Her father, Halvor Heggtveit, a Canadian cross-country champion, encouraged her to ski from a young age.
• In winning the gold medal, Heggtveit earned the FIS (International Ski Federation) gold medal for slalom. She also won an FIS gold medal for the alpine combined events (she was 12th in the downhill and 12th in giant slalom). She was the first non-European to earn the awards.
• Heggtveit won her Olympic run by the largest margin ever recorded for a women's Olympic or world slalom competition. She beat silver medallist Betsy Snite of the U.S. by 3.3 seconds. Bronze medal winner Barbi Henneberger of Germany was a full seven seconds off the pace. Heggtveit placed first in the first of two runs and was second in the second run.
• On Feb. 7, 1959 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Heggtveit became the first North American to earn the Arlberg-Kandahar Trophy, the most prestigious award in alpine skiing, given to the winner of the combined slalom and downhill events. She won the award in the midst of traumatic circumstances. As she writes in a 2002 edition of "Skiing Heritage": "In the morning our fellow Canadian John Semmelink was killed running the men's downhill - right before the women's downhill was about to begin. I heard the news just prior to my run in the slalom. But I managed to take second in the slalom. Together with my previous third place in the downhill that gave me the coveted combined Arlberg Kandahar title."
• Despite suffering various injuries between 1955 and 1957, she still earned a spot on Canada's team at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
• In 1954, 15-year-old Heggtveit became the youngest winner of the Holmenkollen giant slalom event in Norway.
• The first race Heggtveit won was at the age of seven, taking the women's senior slalom and combined events at Wakefield, Que. in Jan. 1947.
• Heggtveit is a member of the Order of Canada. She was awarded the Lou March Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year in 1960. She was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame that same year. She made the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of the first inductees into Canada's Ski Hall of Fame in 1982.
• A ski run at the Camp Fortune Ski Resort outside of Ottawa is named in her honour.
• Though the broadcast date for this report was Dec. 31, 1960, Heggtveit actually won her event on Feb. 26, 1960.
Anne Heggtveit wins slalom gold in 1960
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio Sports Special
Broadcast Date: Dec. 31, 1960
Guest(s): Anne Heggtveit
Duration: 1:25
Photo: Library and Archives Canada, PA-209759
Last updated:
Feb. 7, 2011
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Anne Heggtveit wins slalom gold in 1960.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Feb. 7, 2011.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]