Gretchen Fraser
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-27 10:45
Gretchen FRASER of the United States, in action in the slalom. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections
Other names: FRAZER, Gretchen
Born: 11 February 1919
Deceased: 17 February 1994
Birthplace: Not available
Nationality: United States
Sport: Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
St. Moritz 1948
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 1
Silver: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 1 (48)
Silver: 1 (48)
The First American Ski Champion
Gretchen Fraser twice acted as a skiing double for Sonja Henie in the films Thin Ice (1937) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941). Fraser qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1940, but those Games were cancelled because of war.
During World War II, she taught skiing to soldiers who had lost limbs. By the time the Olympics were revived in 1948, Fraser, at age 28, was considered an unknown quantity. Competing in the slalom, she recorded the fastest time of the first run.
As Fraser prepared to lead off the second round, a problem developed in the telephone timing system between the top and the bottom of the hill. Despite a 17-minute delay at such a critical time, Fraser skied the second fastest time of the run and, based on her accumulated time, earned the gold medal: the first ever by an American skier. She also won the silver medal in alpine combined.
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