Hall of Famer
Nancy Greene Raine
Affiliated Discipline(s):
Alpine
Hometown:
Ottawa, Ontario; Rossland, BC
Active Career Period:
1959–1968
Induction CSHF:
1992
Induction Category:
Alpine
The undisputed best female ski racer in the 1960s, Nancy Greene Raine has always remained in the forefront of public recognition. Over 31 years after winning monumental medals at the 1968 Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble, France, she was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Century in 1999.
Nancy’s racing career coincided with rapid changes in skiing, both in equipment – she started her racing career wearing lace boots and skiing on wooden skis and retired with plastic buckle boots and fiberglass skis – and in the organization of skiing. She saw the beginning of a true national ski team program in Canada and the introduction of the World Cup.
Competing all over North America, Europe and South America, Nancy Greene represented Canada in the World Championships in Chamonix, France, 1966 Portillo, Chile, and three Winter Olympic Games: 1960 Squaw Valley, U.S.A., 1964 Innsbruck, Austria, and 1968 Grenoble, France.
During her nine year racing career, Nancy Greene Raine won three U.S. Championship titles, seven Canadian Ski Championship titles, 13-World Cup victories in 1967 and 1968 (the most by a Canadian skier). In 1967, she became the overall World Cup Champion; a feat she duplicated in 1968 when she also became the International Ski Federation combined champion, and, in the same year, won the 1968 Olympic medals – silver in slalom and gold in giant slalom.
NGR – The Fabulous Life of Nancy Greene Raine
Honours & Awards
- Officer of the Order of Canada 1968
- Order of the Dogwood, (British Columbia’s highest award)
- Canadian ‘Athlete of the Year’, 1967 & 1968
- 1967 | Amateur Athletic Union ‘Female Athlete of the Year’
- 1968 | B’nai B’rith ‘Woman of the Year’
- 1988 | B.C. ‘Ambassador of Tourism’
- 1991 | Whistler’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ (with husband Al)
- National Sports Hall of Fame
- B.C. Sports Hall of Fame
- Canadian Ski Hall of Fame (Formerly the Honour Roll of Canadian Skiing)
- U.S. Ski Hall of Fame
- 1968 Federal Task Force on Sport
- Honourary Chairman, Nancy Greene Ski League
Competitive Highlights
- 1960 – Selected to represent Canada on the women’s national alpine ski team at Squaw Valley, California, USA, at the age of 16-years.
- 1961 – 2nd place, giant slalom, United States National Championships.
- 1961 – 2nd place, slalom, United States National Championships.
- 1962 – 1st place, downhill, Toni Mark Memorial Races, Austria (her first victory in Europe).
- 1963 – 1st place, downhill, slalom, Quebec Kandahar races, Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
- 1963 – 1st place, downhill, slalom, Canadian National Championships.
- 1964 – 7th place, downhill, Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck, Austria.
- 1965 – 1st place, slalom, giant slalom, USA National Championships, Crystal Mountain, Washington.
- 1965 – 1st place, slalom, Far West Kandahar races, Alpine Meadows, California, USA.
- 1965 – 1st place, downhill, slalom, Roch Cup races, Aspen, Colorado, USA.
- 1965 – 1st place, downhill, slalom, giant slalom, Canadian National Championships.
- 1966 – 1st place, slalom, Bad Gastein, Austria.
- 1966 – 2nd place, slalom, Malibor, Yugoslavia.
- 1966 – 2nd place, slalom, Grindelwald, Switzerland.
- 1966 – 4th place, giant slalom, FIS World Championships, Portillo, Chile.
- 1966 – 7th place, slalom, Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) World Championships, Portillo, Chile.
- 1967 – 1st place, giant slalom, slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Oberstaufen, Austria.
- 1967 – 1st place, downhill, GS, FIS World Cup competition, Grindelwald, Switzerland.
- 1967 – 3rd place, slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Schruns, Austria.
- 1967 –4th place, downhill, FIS World Cup competition, Schruns, Austria.
- 1967 –3rd place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Franconia, New Hampshire, USA.
- 1967 –1st place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Vail Colorado, USA.
- 1967 –1st place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA.
- 1967 –1st place, slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA.
- 1968 – 3rd place, giant slalom, slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Oberstaufen, Austria.
- 1968 – 1st place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Gridelwald, Switzerland.
- 1968 – 10th place, downhill, Olympic Winter Games, Grenoble, France.
- 1968 – 3rd place, slalom, Olympic Winter Games, Grenoble, France.
- 1968 – 2nd place, slalom, FIS World Ski Championships, Grenoble, France.
- 1968 – 1st place, giant slalom, Olympic Winter Games, Grenoble, France.
- 1968 – 1st place, giant slalom, FIS World Ski Championships, Grenoble, France.
- 1968 – 1st place, downhill, FIS World Cup competition, Chamonix, France.
- 1968 – 1st place, downhill, slalom, GS, FIS World Cup competition, Aspen, Colorado, USA.
- 1968 –1st place, slalom, GS, Canadian national Championships, Collingwood, Ontario.
- 1968 – 1st place, slalom, GS, downhill Sun Valley, Idaho, USA.
- 1968 – 1st place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Rossland, BC, Canada.
- 1968 – 5th place, giant slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Heavenly Valley, California, USA.
- 1968 – 2nd place, slalom, FIS World Cup competition, Heavenly Valley, California, USA.
Note: The information gathered is compiled from a number of sources; it may not be inclusive of all accomplishments. Copyright © 2023, Canadian Ski Hall of Fame & Museum. For Personal & Educational use only. All Rights Reserved.
Nancy Green (full picture with skis) – Canadian Gold Medalist. CSHFM Collection.
Nancy Greene (middle) celebrates her gold medal winning performance in the giant slalom event at the 1968 Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble, France. Alpine Canada Alpin.
Nancy Greene (2nd from left). Alpine Canada Alpin.
Nancy Greene (left) and Linda Crutchfield posing with John Semmelink Memorial Award. Chantal Gravel.
Nancy Greene skiing in downhill. CSHFM Collection.
c. 1968. Nancy Greene, on course in Grenoble, France – Olympic Winter Games. Alpine Canada Alpin.
Members of 1967-1968 National Ski Team [L to R]: Karen Dokka, Judi Leinweber, Nancy Greene. The Professionals Illustrative Photography.
Pontiac Cup Final at Bromont, QC. Denise Creighton and Diane Pratte accepting the Pontiac Cup as Nancy Greene (far left), Kathy Kreiner (2nd from right) and Lucile Wheeler (far right) look on. c. 1970s. Alpine Canada Alpin.
Nancy Greene & Jean-Claude Killy pictured the day they were awarded their world cups april 7, 1968 at Heavenly Valley, Lake Tahoe, California. Bill Young / San Francisco Chronicle.
National Women’s Alpine Ski Team c. 1965 [L to R]: Pat Ramage, Verne Anderson, ?, Karen Dokka, ?, ?, Nancy Greene. Alpine Canada Alpin.
1968 Civic Reception in Ottawa, ON, for Olympic Gold medallist Nancy Greene. Dominion Wide Photos.
Nancy Greene with winner of Rossignol ski prize at 2007 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Valberg Imaging – Andrea Cardin.
Nancy Greene with winner of Rossignol ski prize at 2007 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Valberg Imaging – Andrea Cardin.
Nancy Greene signing autograph for Rossignol ski prize at 2007 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Valberg Imaging – Andrea Cardin.
1968 Civic Reception in Ottawa, ON, for Olympic Gold medallist Nancy Greene. Dominion Wide Photos.
1968 Civic Reception in Ottawa, ON, for Olympic Gold medallist Nancy Greene, being honored by Ottawa Mayor Donald Bartlett Reid. Dominion Wide Photos.
1968 Civic Reception in Ottawa, ON, for Olympic Gold medallist Nancy Greene, being honored by Ottawa Mayor Donald Bartlett Reid. Dominion Wide Photos.
Nancy Greene with Hawaiian trip winner John Burkett at 1987 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Photo A. Irwin.
Jim Hunter (inductee) and Nancy Greene at 1987 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Photo A. Irwin.
[L to R]: Louis Grimes, Bob Gooch,?, Nancy Greene, Rae Grinnell 1988 Canadian Ski Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. CSHFM Collection.
National Women’s Alpine Ski Team [L to R]: Verne Anderson, Pat Ramage, Karen Dokka, Betsy Clifford, Judy Crawford, Judi Leinweber, Nancy Greene c. 1968. Source: Fotostudio Hoss Oberstaufen.
Nancy Greene Skis to Gold, Silver at 1968 Olympics. CBC Sports.
Throwing it back to February 1968, when Canadian alpine skier Nancy Greene defied injury and the odds to win silver and gold at the Grenoble Olympic Games.
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