Sara Renner (born April 10, 1976) is a Canadian

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

who competed from 1994 to 2010. With Beckie Scott, she won the silver medal in the team sprint event at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

in Turin and earned her best individual finish of eight in the 10 km classical event in those same games. She was born in Golden, British Columbia.

2006 Winter Olympics

Norwegian coach

Bjørnar Håkensmoen Bjørnar Håkensmoen (or ''Bjoernar Haakensmoen'', born July 18, 1969) was the head coach of the Norway, Norwegian cross-country skiing team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He rose to fame after offering Canadian skier Sara Renner his ski pole af ...

gave Sara Renner a

ski pole Ski poles, also referred to as poles (in North America), sticks (UK), or stocks (Australia), are used by skiers for balance and propulsion. Modern ski poles are most commonly made from aluminum and carbon fiber, though materials such as bamboo are ...

after hers was broken when a competitor stepped on it during the cross-country team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Norway's athlete ended up fourth, implying that this selfless act of sportsmanship may well have cost the Norwegian team a medal. Renner gave Håkensmoen a bottle of wine as a thank you, while other Canadians responded with phone calls and letters to the Norwegian Embassy and sent 7,400 cans of maple syrup to Håkensmoen. The incident was immortalized in a

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

television commercial.

Retirement

She announced her retirement in Vancouver following her finish in the Women's 30 km, Mass Start event. She said: "I just left everything out there today," Renner said after carrying her three-year-old daughter, Aria, in her arms through a series of TV interviews. "It was a beautiful race in the pouring rain — quite the way to go out. To hear everyone cheering for me, it was absolutely inspiring."

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 1 medal – (1 silver)

World Championships

* 1 medal – (1 bronze) :a. Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

* 4 podiums – (4 )

Team podiums

* 2 podiums – (1 , 1 )

Personal life

Renner grew up at remote Mount Assiniboine Lodge, the oldest backcountry ski lodge in the Canadian Rockies, located southwest of Banff and Canmore, Alberta, just across the British Columbia provincial border. Her parents ran the high-altitude lodge for three decades, and she credits her youth there for her skiing success. In 2001 Renner posed nude in a calendar called "Nordic Nudes" to help raise money for the Canadian women's Nordic ski team. Teammates Beckie Scott, Milaine Thériault,

Jaime Fortier Jaime Fortier (born 23 February 1976) is a Canadian former cross-country skier who competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics and in the 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known ...

and sister Amanda Fortier also posed nude for the calendar. Renner is married to retired Italian-Canadian alpine skier Thomas Grandi. Grandi had family support out for himself and his wife during the Turin Olympics. On September 18, 2006, Renner announced that she was taking the year off to have a baby with husband Thomas Grandi. Renner came back after her baby was born, and lead the women's team to Vancouver 2010. On February 2, 2007, Renner gave birth to a girl named Aria at a hospital in Banff, Alberta. She and Grandi live in Canmore, Alberta.FIS Newsflash 143. September 5, 2007.

Notes

References

*
Biography

Cross Country Canada
– Canada's Cross Country Ski Program

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renner, Sara 1976 births Canadian female cross-country skiers Canadian people of German descent Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Living people Sportspeople from British Columbia Olympic cross-country skiers of Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada People from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Alberta