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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.112 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Nancy Greene Raine Interview |
Scope & Content |
Nancy Greene interview, 13 October 2006. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Viewing time 00:41:59. 00:24Introduction to Hall 01:28Childhood: started skiing at age 3, family sport, grew up on a steep mountain with good slopes and a chairlift 02:14Why skiing: skiing was popular, ski racing a high profile sport in high school, did well in it, ate 14 the club hosted the Canadian Juniors, first really big race, did well and got medals, next year went to Ontario, injured but placed in top 10, impressed people with courage and spunk, invited to the 1960 Olympic team at age 16, roomed with Anne Heggtveit who won a Gold medal, "if she can do it, I can do it" 04:17When did you take it seriously: as a young person you see the near goals - making the team, trips, etc., don't really see the ladder going to the future; once she went to the Olympics she really got the goal of winning; always two sides to skiing - competitive and fun, friends all skied 05:52On Anne Heggtveit: saw she was "not an Amazon", she was fit, had better technique, learned you had to be focused, learned series of exercises, talking time for yourself, now we call it focus, ability to pull inside and be really tough, most import thing to believe in yourself "if you think you can do it, that one's thing. If you know you can do it, that's something else", then you bear down and do it 07:33On skiing 3 disciplines: everyone did all 3, liked the different events, downhill was her favourite, every run was fun, the slalom she had to work at, be precise, more risky getting closer to the poles 08:37On equipment: needed shorter skis for quick turns and longer skis for straightaway, equipment different for each event; saw many technological changes: started on wooden skis, leather lace up boots, then buckle boots as leather got stiffer needed buckles to close them, team worked with Bob Lang to develop first plastic ski boot, worked with Rossignol ski company in testing early fibreglass skis, still has great relationships with these companies 09:58Used same length of skis 10:21On the 1964 Olympics: on world cup at that time, every other year had the World Championships, came in 5th in the downhill in 1962, confident of being in the top 10, disappointed when didn't get a medal, disappointed in own performance, not one of the favourites, her Dad suggested she was at her peak and retire, felt not past her peak, every year getting better in technique, more experience, never thought of quitting 11:45World Champion: in 1965 top 10, 1967 favourite for medal, injured, so medals but knew she was a contender; 1966 officials were planning for a World Cup series which started in 1967, hadn't planned for this, talks about the season and the pressure on herself, focused on each race not the overall title, talks about points and winning the last race to get the title 16:41Handling pressure: 2 kinds of pressure on athlete, one is own expectations, own desire, learn how to heal with that, other all the expectations from the external world such as the family, coach, everyone else can become a burden, learn to deal with in a selfish way "I'm doing this for me", prepare yourself really well such as dry land training and equipment, the more calm you are the more will do your best, can't skimp on training 18:43On racing opponents: in a team sport you have to be melded with the team, individual sports you have to focus on your own performance, you can' seek own perfection, in skiing it's about as much letting go as charging, you have to ride the line, a pure line, with little edging, need a supple sensitive touch on snow, when racing only focused on the course and line you have prepared 20:45World cup and Olympics: when she won the World Cup in 1967 there was no Canadian media there, Canadian public didn't know it was happening; next year expectations she would win, she expected she would win, detractions going into the season, had not trained as much, year before had incentive to beat the French girls, talks about the season, had an injury which took the pressure off as not expected to win anymore 23:23Retirement: set goals early on the win the Olympics, not earning much money as an amateur, could made commercial endorsements if retired at the top, goal to win the World Cup, had a great stretch, asked herself "do you really want to be the leader with everyone gunning for you. For me it was more fun in getting there than being there" 25:47On the Gold medal run: talks about Grenoble, 10th in downhill, disappointed as expected to win, Silver in the slalom, didn't consider it her best event, Giant Slalom was the last event, great course for her, favoured technique and conditioning which she had focused on course, skied perfect run, great feeling, relief, satisfying, remembers the pandemonium 30:06One run she remembers: every downhill, every day is different, learned to race with confidence and speed, scarier races when on junior team, like downhill speed and trying to seek a clean line, so Super G in her time but knows she would have loved it 31:42On helmets: crash helmets were just coming in, used a leather helmet, in 1961-62 had hard shell helmets, talks about race with old leather helmet, courses icier today need to wear helmets 33:21On being inducted: honour to be named in, difficult criteria to get into it, when competing you don't think of getting it, honour comes after, nice to be part of Canadian history 34:51Life lesson: Not everybody has a chance to compete at a high level but you have a chance to compete at your own level. If you get involved in sports, if can give you so much. You don't have to be a winner to benefit from sport. Just the physical side of getting in shape, setting goals, setting targets is very good for you... I've learned how to set goals, how to work toward something, how to focus your attention on your goals and not get distracted. I learned time management. I learned it isn't really about winning, it's about playing the game. In the end what counts the most for me is the memories, friends I made along the way, the experiences I had travelling around the world. The winning is only part of it. It's nice to win but if you've given it your very, very best, you're a winner. The losers are the ones who never take a chance, who never try. Everybody should get out there and try something. Take something you like to do and try to be a winner at it." 36:41You learn from winning and you learn from losing. ... If you lose you learn what you have inside, what drive you have ... If you are losing you need to figure out why ... You need to be very analytical about your losses or you won't lose from them... Winning opens up all kinds of doors. You have responsibility to live up to your image. You lose some freedom that way", talks about responsibility to those who helped get you to the top, "You own it to them when you are a champion to act like a champion", not let people down 38:49Differences between the Olympics then and now: back then truly an amateur, now top athletes are on professional level, have more opportunities when retired, great TV coverage, appreciate what sponsors bring to sport in terms of supporting athletes, the commercial world can be distracting, pressure from contracts and sponsors, be ahead and they will support you in difficult times, " be a giver, not a taker" |
Year Range from |
1959 |
Year Range to |
1968 |
People |
Greene, Nancy Heggtveit, Anne |
Search Terms |
Nancy Greene Raine Alpine skiing skiing interview women in sport 1968 Olympic Winter Games Grenoble World Championships World Cup Champion |