Winners: Lucile Wheeler, Alpine Skiing
Lucile Wheeler competing in the Downhill event at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina D'Ampezzo.
Date: February 1, 1956
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
1958 - Feature Story
When 23 year old Lucile Wheeler won both the downhill and giant slalom titles at the 1958 World Championships in Bad Gastein, Austria, she was breaking new ground and making up for lost time. Wheeler became the first North American to win an Olympic medal in the downhill, winning Bronze at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The upset victories in Austria caught the imagination of the Canadian public and generated plenty of interest in skiing. A year later, for the first time, Canada sent a team of skiers to Europe to compete in the season’s races. For Wheeler in 1958, the World Championship appearance was simply overdue; she had qualified as a 14-year-old to attend the World Championship in Aspen, Colorado, but her parents decided she was too young to miss too much school and she never got the chance to attend. Wheeler made the most of her second opportunity.
Career Highlights
- 1958 First North American to win World Championship Downhill Title
- 1958 Lou Marsh Memorial Award
- 1958 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
- 1956 Bronze medal, in Downhill at the Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo
- 1947 National Junior Downhill and Combined Titles
Lucile Wheeler at the Fédération Internationale de Ski World Championships in Bad Gastein, Austria.
Date: 1958
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Downhill skiers Anne Heggtveit (left), Ginette Seguin (centre) and Lucile Wheeler (right).
Date: 1950’s
Collection: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame
Lucile Wheeler competing in a skiing event.
Date: 1958
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
Portrait of Lucile Wheeler.
Date: 1950’s
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
