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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2015.5.4 |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Rhona Wurtele Interview |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Rhona Wurtele, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 2015 with her twin sister, Rhoda, born in St. Lambert, Quebec, talks about how she and her sister began their skiing careers, the 1948 Olympic Winter Games, the ski clubs she created with her sister, and advice to youth. The sisters were born at home and were the youngest, by four years, of five children. She emphasizes that everything they did was just for fun and that their biggest challenge was finding the freedom to do the things they enjoyed doing. As female skiers during an age where sports were considered a predominantly male occupation, Rhona talks about skiing with "the boys." Rhona describes how, early in their career, the sisters received invitations to ski in the Canadian Rockies but chose to go to the United States instead. After winning first and second place, they began receiving more competition invitations. Rhona has anecdotes about meeting and befriending many people, including Lucile Wheeler, meeting Anne Heggtveit when she was a young child, and being good friends with "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen. Rhona describes the 1948 Olympic Winter Games and how she received a head injury. She describes the ski clubs she organized, where she taught housewives to ski, as extremely rewarding. Rhona emphasizes her love of Canada and pride in representing her country. Rhona encourages youth to try different sports. Entrevue avec Rhona Wurtele, 16 juin 2015. MP4 d'origine numérique, temps de visionnement : 00:27:59. Rhona Wurtele, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du sport, a été intronisée en 2015 en même temps que sa sœur jumelle Rhoda, et est née à St-Lambert, au Québec. Elle parle de comment sa sœur et elle ont débuté leur carrière de ski, des Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 1948, des clubs de ski qu'elles ont créé ensemble, et partage ses conseils avec les jeunes. Les deux sœurs sont nées à la maison et elles étaient les plus jeunes, de quatre ans, d'une famille de cinq enfants. Elle souligne que tout ce qu'elles faisaient c'était simplement pour le plaisir et que leur plus grand défi était de trouver la liberté de faire les choses qu'elles aimaient. Skieuses à une époque où les sports étaient considérés comme une occupation principalement masculine, Rhona raconte comment elles ont " skié avec les gars ". Rhona décrit comment, au début de leur carrière, les sœurs ont été invitées à skier dans les Rocheuses canadiennes mais qu'elles ont plutôt choisi d'aller aux États-Unis. Après avoir remporté la première et la deuxième place, elles ont commencé à recevoir davantage d'invitations à des compétitions. Rhona possède plusieurs anecdotes au sujet des nombreuses personnes qu'elles ont rencontrées et avec lesquelles elles se sont liées d'amitié, notamment Lucille Wheeler, Anne Heggtveit, rencontrée alors qu'elle était enfant, et leur bon ami " Jackrabbit " Smith-Johannsen. Rhona décrit son expérience aux Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 1948 et comment elle a subi une blessure à la tête. Elle parle des clubs de ski qu'elle a mis sur pied, et où elle enseignait à des femmes au foyer à skier, et explique à quel point cette expérience a été gratifiante. Rhona souligne son amour pour le Canada et sa fierté de représenter son pays. Rhona encourage les jeunes à essayer différents sports. |
Scope & Content |
Rhona Wurtele interview, 16 June 2015. Born digital MP4, viewing time 00:27:59. 00:00:26Rhona Wurtele - she and her sister Rhoda were the youngest, by four years, of five children; growing up in Westmount Mountain, they were very active as children and loved playing in the snow; the twins were inseparable and they were pretty even in most things; in the street where they grew up in, they liked to play hockey with the boys in their neighbourhood 00:02:19 In the winter, they would hang out behind the sleighs with their skis; their older brothers liked to go to the steeper mountain and the twins decided to follow along to see what it was like to go down from up there 00:02:43The biggest challenges in her career: everything they did was fun and they thoroughly enjoyed them; the biggest challenge for them was the freedom to do the things they enjoyed doing 00:03:16They liked to participate in all sorts of sports but skiing eventually became the dominant one; the school invited them to join the ski team and they ended up winning second place in their first race; from there they became more interested in participating in more ski races 00:04:44They wanted to compete in ski races in the US, however they were not able to because they first had to be a part of a ski club; the club that they were interested in, the Penguins, would not take them because they were straight out of high school and it was invitation only; they had a neighbour who was part of the club and they talked to her about getting an invitation to join; they were eventually invited and they were able to finally compete in the races 00:05:34They met a lot of people and made friends with other athletes during their skiing career, including Lucile Wheeler and Hermann Gadner 00:06:48They met Anne Heggtveit when she was a young child during one of their skiing competitions at Lake Placid, New York 00:08:01Their interest in skiing grew even more, and Rhona believes that there was some luck involved; their races in the US was just an introduction for even bigger skiing competitions in Europe 00:09:04Rhona is a big fan of hockey, especially with the Montreal Canadiens; her son played for several NHL teams, including Vanouver Canucks and New York Rangers 00:09:33Being invited to the 1948 Olympic Winter Games was a memorable event for her; she and Rhoda were the only two women in the alpine ski team to represent Canada; the men in the team were overprotective of them because they were worried that the twins would get hurt; one of the men ran into Rhoda during practice, causing her to break her ankle 00:11:10Rhona also had "bad luck" during one of her runs; she hit a rock on her way down, causing one of her skis to fly off and hit her in the back of her head; her wound got infected and she was taken to the hospital 00:15:57They did not worry too much about being the only women in the national ski team; it was a "great thrill" for them to meet the other athletes and represent Canada 00:18:32They started a ski program for housewives, who had otherwise driven their children to the ski hills and waited in their cars. For Rhona, this was an important consequence of her skiing career; the other thing that was important to them was the children's ski club that she and her sister started. 00:20:00What it means to her to be an ongoing inspiration to young skiers: "I do not think they look up to us…maybe if they do, it is because we were unique because we were so together" 00:21:44What she can say to children about being active in sports: they should go for it but they should try to not stick to the same one; "try everything"; participating in sports means being able to learn fellowship and working together 00:22:50On being inducted to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame: she thinks it is very exciting and she is very flattered; "it is quite a thrill and we are very happy about it" 00:23:41The twins knew Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen very well; he was a legend and they were very inspired by him; they found him to be a very interesting person; Rhona has his signature on one of her jackets |
Date |
2016/07/07 |
Year Range from |
1948 |
Year Range to |
1948 |
People |
Wurtele, Rhona Smith-Johannsen, Herman "Jackrabbit" Wurtele, Rhoda Wheeler, Lucile Gadner, Hermann Heggtveit, Anne Gillis, Jere |
Search Terms |
Rhona Wurtele Alpine Skiing Skiing Olympic Winter Games Women in sport National Ski Team |