“Nancy Greene .

.. Was everybody” ’s darling. She was unswervingly

gracious in defeat as well as in victory. And, she was the greatest Ca-
nadian woman athlete I've ever seen.’’ — Jim Coleman

WE SPENT Valentine’s with two champions: champions in

every sense of the word.

As Kerrin Lee-Gartner swooped
into Canadian sports immortality,
her childhood hero Nancy and
husband Al Raine were asleep in a
Langley motel.

They had been at the races the
night before, guests of honor at
Cloverdale Raceway.

When they awoke that Saturday
and switched on the television, the
name Nancy Greene was heard as
frequently as that of Karrin
Lee-Gartner. The parallels were
of the fairy-tale variety.

Nancy was born in Rossland.
Kerrin began life in nearby Trail.

They both learned to ski on Red
Mountain. Nancy’s gold medal
was in grand slalom at Grenoble,
an hour from Meribel.

After two world cups and
despite a bad ankle, Nancy had
been expected to win gold at the
Olympics. Kerrin was a surprise.

We wonder if Kerrin yet realizes
the cross she will now have to
carry. From this day forward,
every step she takes will be
measured against the lifepath of
Nancy Greene-Raine.

How will she handle the idoliza-
tion by hundreds of thousands of
yevngsters? Will she be cheapened
by cxanmercialization, or will she
manage the challenge tastefully
and profitably?

We wonder, a quarter of a cen-
tury from now, if Kerrin will still
be asked for her autograph. Nan-
cy signed dozens at Cloverdale
this Valentine’s.

Not long after Grenoble, Nancy
Greene married Al Raine.

At first, the country seemed to
resent the loss of a sweetheart, but
they soon came to like and respect
the quiet self-effacing coach of
the national ski team. Al was OK,
if Nancy insisted upon being
human.

Then came Mars Bars, the
lucrative endorsement contract. At
first, this was an outrage too.
Nancy just laughed it off, munch-
ed away at her favorite candy,
and the rest of the country joined
her.

Soon after the twins Willy and
Charley were born, the young
mom took to the airwaves again,
this time promoting baby food.

There were many Willy and

Gary
Bannerman

OPEN LINES

Charley jokes in those davs.

The family faded from view
during the early 1970s when Al
Raine’s coaching duties based
them in Switzerland. He was an
architect of the ‘‘Crazy Canucks”
who would dominate men’s skiing
for years to come.

The return to Canada coincided
with the first move of Whistler, a
long established ski venue, into
the big leagues of international
skiing.

With Al's sense of planning and
organization and Nancy's en-
thusiasm, they were crucial in
helping Whistler/Blackcomb
evolve into one of the most
famous resorts in the world.

They attracted partners and
built Nancy Greene Lodge. The
Olympic medals and the Worid
Cup were always on display.

They were named Whistler Citi-
zens of the Year in 1991.

Sometimes, it seems as if fate is
playing malicious games.

My friends at Cloverdale
Raceway asked me two years ago
if Nancy Greene-Raine might be
persuaded to be the featured guest
for the important Miss Valentine
Pace.

At first, she was delighted.
Days later she called to advise that
an engagement in Newfoundland
with a German television crew
precluded her acceptance.

We waited. Last fall, we
reissued the invitation. Nancy and

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Al were all set to come.

When I read in January about
her Colorado ski accident, and
subsequent surgery at the Univer-
sity Hospital, we were certain the
event was doomed.

She seemed insulted when I
made an anxious inquiry about
her health. Minor obstacles are
for mere mortals. We requested a
photo for the program.

Many days later, while she and
Al were in Vancouver, she called
our office for advice. She had
decided a current photo was in
order.

We directed them to a nearby
photo shop. After hobbling
through the door, husband in tow,
the startled photographer (doubt-
lessly, a non-champion) confessed
that he had run out of film.

Meanwhile, at our office, my
wife was directing carpet cleaners.
When Patricia got off the phone
she told the foreman that a VIP
guest would soon be there.

In a booming voice, shouting
over the cleaning equipment, the
chap yelled: ‘‘Nancy Greene is
coming here in a minute.”’

When he looked up, the Raines
were standing in the dvorway,
both of them grinning. Patricia
took the photo.

A few days after that we learn-
ed that son Willy had made the
Olympic team. This, we thought,
doomed any attention they might
pay to a horse race. Wrong again:
a deal’s a deal.

Two days before the race, Nan-

Sunday, February 23, 1992 ~ North Shore News - 9

The greening of Kerrin Lee-

cy called.

**You'd never believe what
happened,’’ she said. We shud-
dered. ‘‘Al had exactly the same
accident as I did. He’s having the
same knee surgery.”’

At that moment, Al Raine was
recovering at the University Hos-
pital, from precisely the same
surgery, performed by the same
physician and resting in the room
next door to the one his wife had
occupied just three weeks before.

Cloverdale, I sighed, was not to
be. Grenoble had been easier to
arrange. But Nancy was still talk-
ing.

**You wouldn’t believe Al. He’s
amazingly cheerful ... so, if they
won't let him out of the hospital,
Il just be by myself."

Two hours before the evening
race card at Cloverdale, my car
phone rang.

This time she advised: ‘‘]’m
standing right by Al at his hospi-
tal bed ... and we are coming. I
don’t know how long the check-
out formalities take around here."’

We decided that a motel near
the race track was a prudent
post-op procedure.

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When we arrived at the track
clubhouse, all heads turned. Nan-
cy, with only the slightest limp,
and Al, navigating his painful leg
between crutches, had reported
for duty.

It was fitting that this superstar
presented a trophy to an athlete
who might have had a storied ca-
reer, had he not succumbed to
alcoholism.

Keith Linton, a superbly gifted
harness driver in his younger days,
is currently in the early stages of
an impressive comeback.

After posing for photographs
with his trophy, Linton turned

‘back toward his horse. Sitting in

his sulky seat, beaming with an
impish smile, was Nancy Greene
Raine.

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