At the 2025 Canada Games, Shirley Firth will be recognized for her amazing career in the sport of cross country skiing with a posthumous induction into the Canada Games Hall of Honour. Throughout her sports career, Firth represented both the Northwest Territories and Canada on the domestic and international stage. Along with her incredible athletic achievement, Firth’s excellence and passion for the sport helped to break down barriers for Indigenous women in Canadian Sport.
Hailing from Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Firth travelled to Saskatoon to compete at her first Canada Games in 1971. As one of the first Indigenous women to compete at the Canada Games,, she took home the gold medal in cross-country skiing, while her twin sister Sharon won silver.
Firth went on to compete at the Lethbridge 1975 Canada Games. Speaking of the impact of the Games for Firth and her family, Shirley’s husband, Jan Larsson, said:
“The Canada Games are an extremely important event that touches everybody in Canada, and it is a great honour to be part of [them].”
In the 1970s and 1980s the Firth twins dominated the sport of cross-country skiing. Throughout their careers, they captured a combined 48 Canadian championships, and 79 national medals.
Shirley was a four-time Olympian competing in the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Winter Olympics. During her time in the Olympic team, she was a trailblazer and representative for Indigenous Women on the world stage, being part of Canada's first women’s Olympic cross-country team, and one of the first Indigenous athletes to compete for Canada at the Olympics.
To this day, Firth and her sister are Canada's only skiers to compete in four consecutive Olympic Games.
Larsson said his late wife, coming from Gwich’in First Nation, was proud to have been raised on the trap lines of the North. He emphasized how the Canada Games provide opportunities for all athletes to achieve their goals. Canada Games Hall of Honour proves that everybody who has a goal in Canada, they can be given the chance to reach that.”
Firth’s incredible passion for sport and for her advancement of Indigenous participation in sports has earned her many accolades from Canadian sports organizations. She was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum 1990, and the Northwest Territories Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. She also received the Order of Canada in 1987 for her athletic excellence and community advocacy.
Even after retiring from her professional career in cross-country skiing, Firth remained a lifelong advocate and role model of Indigenous youth in Canadian sport. In 2013, she passed away from cancer at the age of 59.
