Kerrin Lee-Gartner, Canadian skier and journalist
Kerrin Anne Lee-Gartner (born September 21, 1966) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medallist from Canada.
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. Through 2018, it remains the only victory in an Olympic downhill by a Canadian. 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. 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.
1966Sep, 21
Kerrin Lee-Gartner
Choose Another Date
Events on 1966
- 10Mar
Buddhist Uprising
Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation. - 6Jul
Hastings Banda
Malawi becomes a republic, with Hastings Banda as its first President. - 10Jul
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Chicago Freedom Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr., holds a rally at Soldier Field in Chicago. As many as 60,000 people attend. - 14Oct
Montreal Metro
The city of Montreal begins the operation of its underground Montreal Metro rapid transit system. - 8Nov
Reconstruction Era
Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.