Gretchen Fraser

• Born: February 11, 1919
• Birthplace: Tacoma, Washington
• Died: February 17, 1994
• Place of death: Sun Valley, Idaho

Sport: Skiing

Early Life

Gretchen Fraser was born Gretchen Claudia Kunigk on February 11, 1919, in Tacoma, Washington. Both her parents were born in Europe. Her father, William A. Kunigk, came to the United States from Germany when he was twenty-two. Her mother, Clara Andersen Kunigk, moved to the United States from Norway at the age of twenty. Although her mother was an avid skier, Fraser did not start skiing until she reached her late teens. Her mother eventually taught her a love of skiing, though, and she began to race soon after she took up the sport.

The Road to Excellence

Fraser's first skiing experiences were at Mt. Rainier in Washington. She began to win novice races almost immediately. In 1937, at the age of eighteen, at a novice race, she met Donald W. Fraser, who had been a member of the 1936 US Olympic ski team. She attended the University of Puget Sound in Washington until she married Donald in 1939. The couple moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, where she began to excel in skiing. Both Fraser and Donald made the 1940 US Olympic ski team, but with the advent of World War II, the Games were never held. The 1944 Olympics was also canceled.

Nevertheless, Fraser continued to ski. In the early 1940s, she dominated women’s skiing in the United States. In 1941, only about five years after taking up the sport, she won the national downhill championship and the combined championship; the latter included the slalom and downhill races. In 1942, she won the national slalom championship. On an international level, that might not have meant much. American skiers were rarely taken seriously by the Europeans, who dominated the sport. The highest any American had ever finished in Olympic ski competition was eleventh—in a jumping event. The war kept Fraser from competing in the international events.

The Emerging Champion

Finally, in 1948, Fraser got the chance to compete internationally. She qualified for the US Olympic ski team, earning the first spot during the Olympic trials despite skiing with a cracked rib. Most considered her a long shot to win at the Olympics in St. Mortiz, Switzerland. In her first race, the downhill, she finished eleventh. Then in the slalom, the second half of the combined event, she finished fast enough to clock the second-quickest time in the combined. Her silver medal in the combined was the first Olympic medal ever won in skiing by an American. She had proved that an American skier had the talent to be among the best in the world.

The following day Fraser's success continued in the special slalom, which was later known as the giant slalom. In the first of two runs, she posted the fastest time, only one-tenth of a second ahead of the closest follower. As she stood in the starting gate for the second run, there was suddenly a problem with the telephone line that ran from the finish to the start of the course. Race officials searched for a break in the line so that the start and finish officials could communicate. Fraser stood in the gate in the cold for seventeen minutes, until the problem was solved. She burst out of the gate and clocked a much faster time than her first run. Antoinette Meyer of Switzerland was the only racer with a faster second run, but she could not make up enough time to beat Fraser's combined times from both runs. Fraser won by a half-second and took the gold medal.

Continuing the Story

During the late 1940s, Fraser and her husband lived in Vancouver, Washington, where they operated a small oil and gas distribution company. Eventually, they moved back to Sun Valley, Idaho. She continued to support skiing. Fraser felt it was important to give back to her sport. She worked with ski racing organizations, helping to raise money, and in 1952, she managed the US women’s Olympic ski team.

Fraser and her husband also founded the Flying Outriggers, the first US amputee ski club. She felt it important to work with people with disabilities, and she also helped with the Special Olympics over the years. She was an outstanding athlete, and although she was famous for skiing, she was accomplished in horseback riding and swimming, which she also taught to people with disabilities. Amazingly, she was hit by cars three times over a fifteen-year period, but her determination helped her recover each time. She also battled cancer and underwent surgery several times. Fraser died in 1994. She was elected to the National and the Intermountain Ski Halls of Fame. By 2016, there were two statues of Fraser installed at the base of Warm Springs.

Summary

Gretchen Fraser was more than a sports champion. Although she was a great athlete in several sports, and remarkably became a champion skier after taking up the sport so late in life, she was also a community leader. She combined her mother’s love of skiing and sports with her father’s altruism, and became a longtime advocate of physical fitness. She made tremendous contributions to programs for people with disabilities and in organizations sponsoring skiing and horseback riding.

Bibliography

Fry, John. The Story of Modern Skiing. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2006.

"Gretchen Fraser—Skiing." Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, 4 Dec. 2018, oregonsportshall.org/timeline/gretchen-fraser-skiing/. Accessed 24 Aug. 2020.

Pfeifer, Luanne. Gretchen’s Gold: The Story of Gretchen Fraser, America’s First Gold Medalist in Olympic Skiing. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories, 1996.

Smith, Lissa, ed. Nike Is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports. New York: Grove Atlantic, 2001.

Wallechinsky, David, and Jaime Loucky. The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press, 2008.