Anne Heggtveit, (born January 11, 1939) is a former alpine ski racer from Canada. She was an Olympic gold medallist and double world champion in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

Early years

Born in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Heggtveit was raised in

New Edinburgh New Edinburgh is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the northeast of the downtown core. It is bordered on the west by the Rideau River, to the north by the Ottawa River, to the south by Beec ...

, one of the oldest areas of the city. She was encouraged into alpine skiing by her father, Halvor Heggtveit, a Canadian cross-country champion who qualified for the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, but did not compete. Her parents had emigrated from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. She learned to ski at Camp Fortune ski area in the nearby Gatineau Hills of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, northwest of Ottawa, and was a student at

Lisgar Collegiate Institute Lisgar Collegiate Institute is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in downtown Ottawa by the Rideau Canal. History In 1843, a grammar school with 40 paying students was ...

in Ottawa. Heggtveit was a ski racing prodigy, invited at age seven to serve as a forerunner to a downhill race at Lake Placid in 1946.

Racing career

At the age of 15 in 1954, Heggtveit first gained international attention when she became the youngest winner ever of the Holmenkollen giant slalom event in

. She also won the slalom and giant slalom at the United States national junior championships, and finished ninth in the downhill and seventh in the slalom at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in March at

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpe ...

, Sweden. After leading the top half of the giant slalom, she fell twice near the finish was well back in 31st, which dropped her final placing in the combined to 14th. Although Heggtveit suffered several injuries between 1955 and 1957, she still earned a spot on Canada's Olympic team at age 17 in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, Italy. At a time when Europeans dominated alpine skiing, Heggtveit was inspired by the breakthrough performance of teammate Lucile Wheeler of

, who won Olympic bronze in the downhill in 1956, and three medals at the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

, Austria. Wheeler won gold in the downhill and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

events, and took silver in the combined. Heggtveit finished in the top ten in three events, with an eighth in the slalom, seventh in the downhill, and sixth in the combined. 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 also made her the first non-European to win the world championship in slalom and combined. Heggtveit was the first North American to win the

Arlberg-Kandahar The Arlberg-Kandahar race (often abbreviated A-K or AK) is an annual alpine skiing event. The first edition of the race was held in 1928 in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, St. Anton, in the Arlberg district of Austria. The location originally alternated be ...

Trophy, the most prestigious and classic event in alpine skiing.

World Championship results

From

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

through

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, the

were also the

for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results

Honors

Heggtveit was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's outstanding athlete of 1960. She was also the first recipient of the

John Semmelink Herman Jan "John" Semmelink (December 17, 1938 – February 7, 1959) was an alpine ski racer from Canada. Personal life Born in Shanghai, China, he was the eldest son of Richard Herman Semmelink and Margaretha Catharina Visser of the Netherlands ...

Memorial Award in November 1961, named for her fallen teammate. Her performance on the world stage was again recognized in 1976 when she was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, the country's highest civilian honor. Heggtveit was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

in 1960, the

Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...

in 1971, and was among the first group inducted into the new Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1982. Heggtveit has a road named after her at the Blue Mountain Ski Resort in the Town of the Blue Mountains, west of Collingwood, Ontario. She also has a ski run named after her at Camp Fortune, an extremely difficult double black diamond run. Anne Heggtveit was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

in 1995. She was in the first induction of the

Athletic Wall of Fame, as part of the 160th Anniversary celebrations.Alere Flammam, Lisgar Alumni Association Newsletter, Fall 2004

Personal

Following her competitive career, Heggtveit married James Ross Hamilton in August 1961, and resided in Quebec. They had two children and later relocated to nearby

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

in the United States. She was later an accountant and photographer. She is sister to Alexander Heggtveit, MD, cardiac pathologist with ties to Brooklyn, NY, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Seaforth, Ontario, and great-aunt to Katie Heggtveit, granddaughter of Alexander, a social entrepreneur with ties to Toronto, Ontario, currently living in Nashville, Tennessee since 2023, recently inducted into the Toronto Sport Hall of Honor.

References

External links

* * *
archive

Anne Heggtveit
at Canadian Ski Hall of Fame
Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame

Anne Heggtveit Hamilton
at U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heggtveit, Anne 1939 births Living people Canadian female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Canadian people of Norwegian descent Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Northern Star Award winners Members of the Order of Canada Skiers from Ottawa Lisgar Collegiate Institute alumni 20th-century Canadian sportswomen