Fraser qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1940, but those Games were cancelled because of war. During World War II, she taught skiing to soldiers who had lost limbs...Next to her sportive exploits Gretchen Fraser acted as a skiing double for Sonja Henie in the films Thin Ice (1937) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941).
First gold medal for an American skier
By the time the Olympic Games were revived in 1948, Fraser, at age 28, was not considered well known. Competing in the slalom, she recorded the fastest time of the first run. As she prepared to lead off the second round, a problem developed in the telephone timing system between the top and the bottom of the hill. Despite a 17-minute delay at such a critical time, Fraser skied the second fastest time of the run and, based on her accumulated time, earned the gold medal: the first ever by an American skier. She also won the silver medal in alpine combined.
