Skiing: A Cup for Canada

For three short weeks at the beginning of the season last January, Canada’s Nancy Greene, 23, was the biggest name in skiing. She won four out of seven races against Europe’s best (TIME, Jan. 20). Then she went home, and the French took over. Coach Honore Bonnet’s charges won practically everything in sight: Jean-Claude Killy sewed up the World Cup for men; Marielle Goitschel and Annie Famose fought a ding-dong battle for the women’s championship. Even after competition moved to the U.S. last month and Nancy got back into action, her chances of overcoming the French girls’ lead in the standings seemed remote. Going into the final event of the season, last week’s Wild West Classic at Jackson Hole, Wyo., Nancy had only 151 World Cup points to Marielle’s 169 and Annie’s 158.

The only way Nancy could win the cup was by sweeping both the giant slalom and the special slalom. And that is exactly what she did. In the giant slalom, she flashed to a .41-sec. victory. In the special slalom, leading Marielle by only .05 sec. after the first run, Nancy announced: “I can run a little faster next time.” She could indeed. She then whipped down the 1,250-ft., 56-gate course in 44.51 sec. to edge Marielle by .02 sec. Her total margin of victory was only .07 sec., but by that thin hair Nancy Greene won the World Cup.