View source for Lucile Wheeler

{{Short description|Canadian alpine skier (born 1935)}}
{{Infobox alpine ski racer
| name              = Lucile Wheeler<br />{{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}}
| image             = Lucile Wheeler (cropped).jpeg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = 
| gender            = f
| disciplines       = [[Downhill (ski competition)|Downhill]], [[giant slalom]], [[Slalom skiing|slalom]], [[Alpine skiing combined|combined]]
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1935|1|14}} 
| birth_place       = [[Saint-Jovite, Quebec|Sainte-Jovite]], [[Quebec]], Canada
| death_date        = <!-- {{death date and age|20YY|mm|dd|birthyear|1935|1|14}} -->
| death_place       = 
| height            = <!--{{height|ft=5|in=x}}-->
| club              = 
|olympicteams       = 2 – ([[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics|1952]], [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956]])
|olympicmedals  = 1
|olympicgolds   = 0
|worldsteams    = 5 – (''[[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950|1950]]'', [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics|'52]], [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1954|'54]], [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|'56]], [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|'58]])<br> &nbsp; &nbsp; ''includes two Olympics''
|worldsmedals   = 4
|worldsgolds    = 2
|medals         = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[alpine skiing]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{flag|Canada|1957}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956 Cortina]]|[[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill|Downhill]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958 Bad Gastein]] | [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Downhill 2|Downhill]]}}
{{MedalGold| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958 Bad Gastein]] | [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Giant slalom 2|Giant slalom]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958 Bad Gastein]] | [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Combined 2|Combined]]}}
|show-medals    = yes
}}

'''Lucile Wheeler''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} (born January 14, 1935) is a former [[Alpine skiing|alpine ski racer]] from [[Canada]]. She was a double [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|world champion]] in [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958]], the first [[North America]]n to win a world title in the [[Downhill (ski competition)|downhill]] event.<ref name=toptenfin>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tywxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WeMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7217%2C930865 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |title=Canada's Lucile Wheeler wins skiing title |agency=Canadian Press |date=February 6, 1958 | page=1}}</ref><ref name=ctdht>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3dlYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-_YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7156%2C1237555|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |agency=United Press |title= Canadian takes downhill title |date=February 6, 1958 |page=35 }}</ref><ref name=lwfgn>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uCwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WeMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7242%2C1308335|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |agency=Canadian Press |title=Lucile Wheeler first again, wins world's giant slalom|date=February 8, 1958|page=1 }}</ref><ref name=laagcsp>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uCwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WeMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2354%2C1759647|newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |agency=Canadian Press |title=Lucile and Anne give Canada ski prominence |date=February 10, 1958 |page=11}}</ref>

==Early years==
Wheeler was born in [[Quebec]] and grew up in the village of [[Saint-Jovite, Quebec|Sainte-Jovite]] in the [[Laurentian Mountains]]. Her family was instrumental in promoting the sport of skiing and her grandfather George Wheeler built the famous [[Gray Rocks]] ski centre at [[Mont-Tremblant, Quebec]]. He had moved to Quebec from [[Chazy, New York]] in the late nineteenth century, hoping to make it rich in the [[lumber]] business, but was wiped out by a [[Wildfire|forest fire]].<ref name=glbmllw>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/lucile-wheeler/article1156811/ |newspaper=Globe and Mail |last=Christie |first=James |title=Lucile Wheeler  |date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=March 7, 2014}}</ref>

Taught to ski at the age of two, Wheeler's skills were such that she was soon competing against older ski racers. At age 10, she finished seventh in a [[Downhill (ski competition)|downhill]] event at [[Mont Tremblant Resort|Mont Tremblant]] in a race that was open to participants of all ages. She won the Canadian junior ski championship in 1947 at age 12 and at 14 was selected to compete for Canada at the [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|World Championships]] in [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950|1950]] in [[Aspen Mountain (ski area)|Aspen]], [[Colorado]], the first major alpine event held outside of Europe. However, her parents felt she was too young at age 15 to miss school and did not allow her to go.<ref name=wheeler>{{cite Sports-Reference | url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wh/lucile-wheeler-1.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200417223521/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wh/lucile-wheeler-1.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2020-04-17 | title = Lucille Wheeler | access-date = 2010-01-26}}</ref>

==Racing career==
The early 1950s was still a time when resources for Canadian skiers were extremely limited.<ref name=glbmllw/> There was very little in the way of government funding to cover expenses for skiers wishing to compete on the world stage or to pay for professional training. Recognizing their daughter's gifts, her parents bore the expense for her to spend several winters training in [[Kitzbühel, Austria|Kitzbühel]], [[Austria]]. It paid off when she became the first [[North America]]n Olympic medalist in the [[Downhill (ski competition)|downhill]] in [[Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics|alpine skiing]], winning the bronze in [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956]] at [[Cortina d'Ampezzo]], [[Italy]].<ref name=wheeler/> She followed this with a spectacular performance at the [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958 World Championships]] in [[Bad Gastein]], [[Austria]], where she won both the [[Downhill (ski competition)|downhill]] and the [[giant slalom]] and took silver in the [[Alpine skiing combined|combined]].<ref name=wheeler/> Upon her return to Canada a month later, she received tumultuous receptions.<ref name=lwachm>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mUwwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=d6gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7080%2C2083019 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |last=Chisholm |first=Lauchie |title=Lucile welcomed as champ, takes celebrity role in stride |date=March 13, 1958 |page=3 }}</ref><ref name=htrhlw>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tU4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gKgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7406%2C2493931 |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |title=Home town residents honour Lucile Wheeler |date=April 14, 1958 |page=28}}</ref>

Wheeler's breakthrough performance resulted in an increase in government funding that enabled other Canadian skiers to compete at the international level. Her achievements were also instrumental in increasing the popularity of the sport both nationwide and in her native Quebec where what was once a remote destination in the Laurentian mountains for only a limited few became a thriving ski area with an abundance of quality facilities that attracts hundreds of thousands of skiers every winter.

== World Championship results ==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
!&nbsp; Year &nbsp; !! &nbsp;Age&nbsp; !! &nbsp;Slalom&nbsp; !! Giant<br>&nbsp;Slalom&nbsp; !! Super-G !! Downhill !! Combined
|-
| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950|1950]] || ''15'' || [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950#Slalom 2|DNS]] || [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950#Giant slalom 2|DNS]] ||rowspan=5|<small>''not run''</small> || [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1950#Downhill 2|DNS]] || rowspan=2|<small>''not run''</small>
|-
|| [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics|1952]] || ''17'' || [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Women's slalom|26]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Women's giant slalom|27]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill|27]] 
|-
| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1954|1954]] || ''19'' || DSQ2 || 18 || 7 || —
|-
| [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956]] || ''21''  || [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's slalom|DSQ2]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's giant slalom|6]] || style="background:#c96;"|[[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill|3]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics#World championships|—]]
|-
| [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958|1958]] || ''23'' || [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Slalom 2|14]] || style="background:gold;"|[[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Giant slalom 2|1]] || style="background:gold;"|[[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Downhill 2|1]] || style="background:silver;"|[[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958#Combined 2|2]]
|}
<small>From [[Alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics|1948]] through [[Alpine skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics|1980]], the [[Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]] were also the [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|World Championships]] for alpine skiing.</small><br>
<small>Wheeler qualified for the 1950 championships, but did not attend.</small>

== Olympic results [[File:Olympic rings.svg|50px]] ==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
!&nbsp; Year &nbsp; !! &nbsp;Age&nbsp; !! &nbsp;Slalom&nbsp; !! Giant<br>&nbsp;Slalom&nbsp; !! Super-G !! Downhill !! Combined
|-
|| [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics|1952]] || ''17'' || [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Women's slalom|26]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Women's giant slalom|27]] || rowspan=2|<small>''not run''</small> || [[Alpine skiing at the 1953 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill|27]] || rowspan=2|<small>''not run''</small>
|-
| [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics|1956]] || ''21''  || [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's slalom|DSQ2]] || [[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's giant slalom|6]] || style="background:#c96;"|[[Alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill|3]]
|}

==After racing==
Following her retirement from competitive racing at age 24 in 1959,<ref name=wheeler/> Wheeler, along with Réal Charette, was a ski instructor in a film made at the [[Banff, Alberta|Banff]] ski resort that won the [[American Library Association]]'s award as the best educational sports film of 1960. In June 1960, Wheeler married [[Kaye Vaughan]], former player with the [[Ottawa Rough Riders]] and member of the [[Canadian Football League]] Hall of Fame.<ref name=kvwslw>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ANMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b-QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3453%2C2680650 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |agency=Canadian Press |title=Kaye Vaughan weds skier Lucile Wheeler |date=June 27, 1960 |page=7}}</ref> The couple lived for a time in [[Ottawa]], but in 1967 they moved to the village of [[Knowlton, Quebec]], in the heart of a ski area in the [[Eastern Townships]]. The mother of two children, she organized a ski program at Knowlton High School for children aged 14 and under.

==Honours==
Wheeler was voted the [[Lou Marsh Trophy]] as Canada's most outstanding athlete of 1958 and was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.<ref name=wheeler/> In 1976, she was made a member of the [[Order of Canada]], her country's highest civilian honour, and was inducted into the [[Canadian Sports Hall of Fame]]. South of the border, Wheeler was inducted into the [[National Ski Hall of Fame|U.S. Ski Hall of Fame]] in 1976.

[[Glen Mountain]], a small Quebec ski hill in [[West Bolton, Quebec|West Bolton]], honoured her with a trail named "The Wheeler."

==See also==
*[[List of alpine skiing world champions]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{FIS alpine skier|65966}}
* {{Ski-DB|lucille_wheeler_can_wwhll}}
* [http://loumarsh.ca/en/athletes/view/20 Lucile Wheeler – Lou Marsh Trophy 1958]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140301134009/http://www.sportshall.ca/stories.html?proID=287&catID=all&lang=EN Lucile Wheeler] at Canada's Sports Hall of Fame
* [http://www.skimuseum.ca/biodata.php?lang=en&id=130 Lucile Wheeler] at Canadian Ski Hall of Fame
* [http://olympic.ca/canadian-olympic-hall-of-fame/ Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame – Alpine skiing – Lucile Wheeler]
* [https://skihall.com/hall-of-famers/lucile-wheeler-vaughn/ Lucile Wheeler Vaughan] at U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
* {{Team Canada|lucile-wheeler}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|lucile-wheeler|org_id=lucille-wheeler|org_archive=20201101140252|org_name=Lucille Wheeler}}
* {{Olympedia}}

{{Footer World Champions Downhill Women}}
{{Footer World Champions Giant Slalom Women}}
{{Lou Marsh Trophy}}
{{Bobbie Rosenfeld Award}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Lucile}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian female alpine skiers]]
[[Category:Northern Star Award winners]]
[[Category:Olympic alpine skiers for Canada]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Canada]]
[[Category:Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Alpine skiers at the 1952 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Skiers from Montreal]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in alpine skiing]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1956 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Sportswomen from Quebec]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian sportswomen]]