Winners: Nancy Greene, Alpine Skiing

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Nancy Greene sitting

Nancy Greene returning to Canada from the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble with her Gold and Silver medals.
Date: February 26, 1968
Collection: CP photo

1967 - Feature Story

The 1966-1967 season marked the inaugural circuit known as the World Cup. Nancy Greene, now the senior member of the Canadian women’s ski team at age 23, would win the overall World Cup title, taking the season’s final race at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She set her eye on the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble, suggesting, “maybe I’m not satisfied yet.’’ 

1968 - Feature Story

Nancy Greene would win yet another World Cup overall title, but it was the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble – and the Gold medal – that was foremost in her sights. A nagging ankle injury and a waxing error contributed to her 10th-place finish in the downhill. A Silver medal in the slalom still didn’t satisfy Greene, who then turned in what she called “the race of my life’’ to win the Gold medal in the giant slalom by a remarkable 2.64 seconds. 

1999 - Feature Story

The World Cup was something new in skiing back in 1966, but Nancy Greene soon made winning at the sport’s top level merely old hat. The Canadian nicknamed Tiger for her tenacity on the slopes scored seven World Cup victories and won the inaugural overall title in the 1966-1967 season. But the following year was even better for Greene, who achieved six more World Cup wins and the overall championship, plus Olympic Gold and Silver medals at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble, France, before retiring from the circuit at age 24. This kind of dominance resulted in Greene being voted Canadian female athlete of the century in 1999, outpolling Silken Laumann and Barbara Ann Scott in nationwide voting.

Career Highlights

  • 1999 Named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Century by Canadian Press
  • 1968 Gold medal in giant slalom and Silver medal in the slalom event at the Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble
  • 1967, 1968 World Cup title
  • 1967, 1968 Lou Marsh Memorial Award
  • 1967, 1968 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
Nancy Greene skiing down a hill

Nancy Greene skiing down a mountain at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble.
Date: 1968
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Poster of Nancy Greene

Poster signed by Nancy Greene.
Date: 1960’s
Collection: Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

Nancy Greene holding a trophy

Nancy Greene holding the trophy she won at the World Cup Ski Championships.
Date: 1967
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Nancy Greene skiing

Nancy Greene competing at the Du Maurier International Ski Championship in Canada.
Date: February 1966
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Nancy Greene posing in her Olympic skiing uniform

Nancy Greene at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble.
Date:  1968
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Nancy Greene talking

Nancy Greene during an interview.
Date: 1968
Collection: Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

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