PRINT THIS PAGE

WOMEN'S SPORT HISTORY

Lucile Wheeler: Canada's First Olympic Downhill Medallist

Think of Lucile Wheeler and the word "first" comes immediately to mind. First Olympic downhill medallist. First Canadian Olympic skiing medallist. First North American to win the downhill and combined on the treacherous Hahenkammen at Kitzbühel, Austria. First world ski champion in North America. With these successes came the highest honours her country could bestow — in 1958 the Lou Marsh Trophy as outstanding athlete of the year, the Velma Springstead Memorial Trophy as outstanding female athlete, the Canadian Press Award as woman athlete of the year, and in 1976, the Order of Canada.

In 1937 two-year old Lucile first took to the slopes at the family lodge, Gray Rocks Inn, which her grandparents had opened near St-Jovite, Que., in 1906.

"My mother would send me across Lake Ouimet on cross country skis to carry messages between our home and the hotel," she recalls.

With remarkable foresight, Lucile’s father, Harry, a 1932 Olympic medallist in the demonstration sport of dog sledding, had hired the area’s first ski professional, Ernst Wagner in 1933. It was his successor, Hermann Gadner, who taught Lucile to ski and who first spotted her tremendous potential.

"He convinced my father that he could make me a ski racer," says Lucile. It didn’t hurt that Lucile was able to train at one of the best ski schools on the continent, or that her friends were talented athletes such as Peter Kirby, a bobsled gold medallist in 1964, his sisters, Anne and Judy, Tommy Corcoran, a future American Olympian. As role models, there was Rhoda and Rhona Wurtele, whose promising careers were interrupted by the Second World War.

As her talent emerged, Harry Wheeler and her coaches realized that to reach the top, Lucile had to train in Europe and, from 1952 to 1957, she spent her winters in Kitzbühel, training with master coach Pepi Salvenmoser. Summers were spent back in St-Jovite, riding, swimming, rock climbing, and playing gold and tennis.

It all began to pay off in 1956 when Lucile won the Olympic downhill bronze medal at Cortina, "a step along the way ... an unexpected, beautiful surprise", she says, and only her third European competition. Her real target, however, was the 1958 world championships in Bad Gastein, Austria. At her peak physically and mentally, Lucile was determined to break the European stranglehold on the championships, and break it she did with victories in both downhill and giant slalom.

"Back then, the world championships were as important as the Olympics, and the competition was even tougher," she says. As for training, much of it was experimental and from 1956 on, Lucile was her own personal trainer. She used the Gray Rocks golf course and airport for running, ran up and down the Sugar Peak ski hill, went hiking, skipped rope, and did push-ups and sit-ups.

With her goal achieved, Lucile retired and in 1960, she married Ottawa football great Kaye Vaughan. Only after marriage and motherhood — she has two children, Myrle and Jake — did she see differences in how women and men were treated. In skiing, she says, the treatment was "quite equal". One of her major accomplishments was the establishment of an elementary school ski program in the Eastern Townships that involved children with special needs.

"It was a great job because it allowed me to be with my kids, who were the same age as the children in the program," she says. "So it was a great balance between family and work."

Lucile, who was delighted that so many women competed at Atlanta, remains an active skier and golfer. Asked what advice she would give today’s aspiring Olympians she says:

"Always pursue your dreams, be dedicated, and work hard, but don’t totally devote yourself to only one thing in life. Work to reach a goal, but also be prepared to live other great and fulfilling things ... the top is small and hard to reach; there’s only space for a few, and this can be very frustrating. Injuries, politics, coaching problems, and difficult retirements are all good reasons to have other interests."

CAAWS Action Bulletin, Autumn 1996