Anne HEGGTVEIT

The daughter of the prominent Canadian cross-country skier Halvor Heggtveit, Anne Heggtveit developed her skiing process while a student at the Lisgar Collegiate Institute, although she had already managed to have a participatory experience with the Canadian National Team at the age of 9. In 1954, at only 15, she became the youngest winner ever of the Holmenkollen Giant Slalom event in Norway and, despite having to combat injuries for several years, attended the 1956 Winter Olympics with the Canadian delegation for alpine skiing. Her success would have to wait four years but, at the 1960 Winter Olympics, Heggtveit won Canada's first-ever Olympic skiing gold medal in the Slalom event, a victory that earned her the Arlberg-Kandahar Trophy that same year, as well as the Lou Marsh Trophy, given annually to Canada’s top athlete.

Although Heggtveit retired after her success, the accolades continued, beginning with an induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame that same year. She was later made a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971, a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976 and was in the first group of inductees at the founding of the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in 1982. She worked at a learn-to-ski program from 1970 through 1976 before returning to school and graduating with a B.Sc. from Trinity University, summa cum laude. Since then, she has run her own business from Vermont, doing floral design and photography work. A ski run in Ottawa is named in her honor.