A legendary Olympian we never really knew
Three-time gold medallist Heddle avoided the spotlight and let others do the talking
Kathleen Heddle was telling a story and laughing, which was a story in itself.
She was sitting in a chair in Atlanta in 1996, wearing her latest Olympic medal — her fourth — trying to explain how it felt to be referred to as the greatest Summer Olympian in Canadian history.
She was revelling in the moment, being a sort of celebrity, being loose, and talking about watching herself on television the night before.
She and rowing partner
Marnie McBean were viewing a televised replay of their gold-medal performance when the announcer called them the greatest Olympic athletes in Canadian history.
“We just looked at each other and we both laughed,” Heddle said. “And I'm thinking, that can't be.”
It can be and it remains. Kathleen Heddle, one of only two Canadians to win three gold medals in the Summer Olympic Games — her along with McBean — died on Monday. She was only 55 and out of the spotlight, never a household name, which was how she preferred to live her life. She was never as well known or as much of a celebrity as she could have been, considering the accomplishments.
Some Canadians, like Donovan Bailey, like trampoline star Rosie MacLennan, like synchro swimmer Carolyn Waldo, and the sprinter from another century, Percy Williams, were skilled or proficient enough in their pursuits to win two gold medals. That sets them apart in a country that doesn't win often in the uber-competitive Summer Games.
McBean and Heddle, though — it was always McBean's name first, the way Heddle preferred it — they won three.
It's quite likely no one will ever win four.
And when she died the other day, there was a small mention on the nightly news, and most people wouldn't have noticed or remembered who she was or what she accomplished.
“She's the best (female) rower in the world,” said McBean back then. “If she rowed in the single sculls she would beat Silken (Laumann), she'd represent Canada, and she would win the gold, but she doesn't want to. It's not her personality.”
McBean is known for her success on the water, her rare frankness away from it, her TV commercials, and as an author, a speaker, and still as a major force in Canadian sport.
Heddle's quiet way kept her out of the headlines, and her partner in them during the two Olympics in which they competed. Heddle only raced four times as an Olympian — and was on the podium each time.
Hoping each time that someone else would get noticed for the victory.
In those Olympic years — 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta — Heddle was only beginning to get over being painfully shy. That was a long fight for her. It was easy and natural to be partnered with McBean, comfortable even. It was Marnie's team, Marnie's words, Marnie on TV.
That didn't happen by accident. That was the way Heddle wanted it, even if the team should have been called Heddle and McBean.
There were rules to their partnership.
“If we were at a dinner or something and kids came up and asked me for an autograph, I'd sign it,” McBean said. “But if Kathleen was standing right beside me, I wasn't allowed to introduce her. I wasn't allowed to say, `This is Kathleen Heddle, she won gold medals, she's my partner. Do you want her autograph, too?'
“I did it once. She told me, `Don't do that again.'
“There were other rules, things I could do, things I couldn't do. Kathleen likes things a certain way.”
Heddle retired after Barcelona. Training to row at the highest level is painful and arduous and challenging. For Heddle, so was retirement. It left her listless and depressed at a time when mental health issues weren't shared as often as they are today. She never talked about it much, but those who knew her best understood. She wasn't unlike so many Olympians: she couldn't stand being one and she couldn't stand not being one.
At age 30, some 25 years ago, she walked away from rowing as a legend. And now, a legend gone too soon. She found a way to defeat almost everything in her life, but brain cancer and melanoma took her.
She leaves behind her husband and two children. She leaves behind a reputation for hard work, integrity and achievement. Once upon a time, she was the rock beside McBean's outgoing granite.
It used to be, if you had asked Heddle a question at a news conference, Marnie would answer. That, too, was part of their partnership.
“I did all the interviews,” McBean said back then.
“She didn't want any part of that.”
Now Heddle leaves us far too young as the great Canadian Olympic champion hardly anyone really knew.