Kerrin Lee-Gartner
Kerrin Anne Lee-Gartner (born September 21, 1966) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medallist from Canada.
| Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, Super G, Giant slalom, Combined | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Red Mountain Racers | |||||||||||||
| Born | September 21, 1966 Trail, British Columbia, Canada | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | March 10, 1985 (age 18) (first top 15 finish) | |||||||||||||
| Retired | March 1994 (age 27) | |||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 – (1988, 1992, 1994) | |||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (1 gold) | |||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 – (1989, 1991, 1993) | |||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | |||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 9 – (1985, 1987–94) | |||||||||||||
| Wins | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Podiums | 6 – (4 DH, 2 SG) | |||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (9th in 1993) | |||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (3rd in DH, 1993) | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Born in Trail, British Columbia, she grew up in Rossland and raced as a youngster at Red Mountain. Lee-Gartner started skiing for the Canadian Women's Ski Team in 1982, but suffered a number of knee operations over the years including two complete reconstructions. She attained her first World Cup podium early in December 1990, then had five more top-six finishes early in the 1992 season entering the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
On the Roc de Fer course at Méribel, Lee-Gartner won the gold medal in the Olympic downhill. Only 0.06 seconds behind was silver medallist Hilary Lindh of the U.S., for a North American 1–2 finish.[1] Through 2018, it remains the only victory in an Olympic downhill by a Canadian.[2] She finished sixth in the Olympic super-G and had two more podiums after the Olympics, both in North America, to finish up the 1992 season.
Lee-Gartner's next season in 1993 was her best on the World Cup circuit, with two podiums and twelve top tens. She finished third in the downhill standings and ninth overall. At the World Championships in Japan, she was fourth in the super-G and ninth in the downhill.
Leading up to the 1994 Winter Olympics, Lee-Gartner was admittedly affected by the death of her friend Ulrike Maier after a crash in a downhill race in late January.[3][4] At the Olympics in Norway, she finished eighth in the super-G and 19th in the downhill, and retired from international competition a month later, at the end of the 1994 World Cup season.
Lee-Gartner is currently a television broadcaster with CBC Sports in Canada. She also assisted the BBC with coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[5]
World Cup results
Season standings
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 18 | 82 | – | 43 | – | – | — |
| 1986 | 19 | ||||||
| 1987 | 20 | 77 | – | – | – | 32 | — |
| 1988 | 21 | 48 | – | – | 26 | 10 | 16 |
| 1989 | 22 | 51 | – | – | – | 24 | 22 |
| 1990 | 23 | 49 | – | – | – | 14 | — |
| 1991 | 24 | 16 | – | – | 16 | 9 | — |
| 1992 | 25 | 14 | – | 29 | 7 | 4 | — |
| 1993 | 26 | 9 | – | 26 | 7 | 3 | 19 |
| 1994 | 27 | 34 | – | 34 | 11 | 28 | — |
Race podiums
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Dec 28, 1990 | Altenmarkt, Austria | Downhill | 3rd |
| 1992 | Mar 7, 1992 | Vail, CO, USA | Downhill | 2nd |
| Mar 15, 1992 | Panorama, British Columbia, Canada | Super-G | 2nd | |
| 1993 | Dec 12, 1992 | Vail, CO, USA | Downhill | 3rd |
| Feb 26, 1993 | Veysonnaz, Switzerland | Downhill | 2nd | |
| 1994 | Jan 15, 1994 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | Super-G | 3rd |
World Championship results
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 22 | — | DNF | 20 | 7 | 9 |
| 1991 | 24 | — | 24 | 16 | 7 | DNF SL |
| 1993 | 26 | — | 23 | 4 | 9 | 17 |
Olympic results
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 21 | — | 17 | 23 | 15 | 8 |
| 1992 | 25 | — | — | 6 | 1 | DQ SL1 |
| 1994 | 27 | — | — | 8 | 19 | — |
Video
- CBC interview – following her Olympic gold medal run, February 1992
Personal
During May 2018, Lee-Gartner was part of a group of four female athletes, including Cassie Campbell, Jen Kish and Fran Rider to publicly pledge their brain to a Canadian research centre. The posthumous donation shall be made to Toronto Western Hospital’s Canadian Concussion Centre to further research on the effect of trauma on women's brains.[6]
References
- "North Americans conquer downhill". Reading (PA) Eagle. wire services. February 1992.
- Carpenter, Dave (February 1992). "Canada, U.S. win medals in downhill". Free-Lance Star. Fredericksburg, VA. Associated Press. p. C1.
- "1992 ski winner may skip Games". Wilmington (NC) Star-News. wire services. February 2, 1994. p. 3C.
- "Canadian to defend downhill title". Eugene Register-Guard. February 19, 1994. p. 6C.
- Sekeres, Matthew (June 8, 2009). "Where are they now? Kerrin Lee-Gartner". Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- Morgan Campbell (May 10, 2018). "Four high-profile Canadians to donate their brains for research into concussion effects in women". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
External links
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner at the International Ski Federation
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner at the Canadian Olympic Committee
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner at the International Olympic Committee
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- BC Sports Hall of Fame – Kerrin Lee-Gartner
- CBC Media Centre – Kerrin Lee-Gartner
- Kerrin Lee-Gartner on Twitter
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