Sharon Firth was a member of the Gwich’in First Nation, and with her twin sister, Shirley, became one of the first aboriginals to represent Canada at the Olympic Games. Sharon, the younger twin by 10 minutes, was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories, but her family moved to Inuvik when they were five, where they learned to ski with the Territorial Experimental Ski Training Program (TEST). Sharon Firth eventually competed in four Olympic Winter Games and three World Championships. She and her sister were the subjects of a CBC Documentary entitled The Olympians: The Firth Sisters. Sharon Firth has been awarded the John Semmelink Memorial Award from the Canadian Ski Association in 1972, the Commissioner’s Award from the Government of the Northwest Territories in1981, the Order of Canada in1987, was inducted into the Canadian Ski Museum and Skiing Hall of Fame in 1990, and she received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. When her competitive days ended, she settled in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where she has served as a Youth Program Advisor for the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Canada