Isabel Coursier

Isabel Patricia Coursier (March 21, 1906 – October 15, 1990) was a Canadian ski jumper and multi-sport athlete known for being the first North American to break the record for women’s ski jumping. She was viewed as the sport’s first female world champion from 1922 until her final jump in 1929. Her initial world record was set at 26 metres during her debut at Mount Revelstoke National Park’s Big Hill in February 1922, and was held until 1926. Her second world record was set at 31 metres in 1928, also at the Big Hill, and was held until 1931. She was one of four ski jumpers to set world records at the hill, joined by Henry Hall and fellow Revelstoke residents Nels Nelsen and Bob Lymburne.

Coursier attended university and became a schoolteacher shortly before retiring from ski jumping.

Early life and athletic career Isabel Patricia Coursier was born on March 21, 1906, to Isabel Steed Coursier and Henry Noble Coursier in Revelstoke, British Columbia. She went by the name Pat, derived from her middle name. She had a sister and two brothers, one of whom died of drowning at the age of six.

Henry was a well respected businessman, and had a local creek named in his honour in 1939, shortly after his death. The elder Isabel was a painter and the first woman on Revelstoke’s school board. Both were active in the local mountaineering community, and imparted the love of the outdoors on their children.

Growing up near Mount Revelstoke National Park, Pat Coursier was given her first pair of skis at eight years old. They were handcrafted by a neighbour.

In 1925, Coursier enrolled at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, where she studied physical and health education. She was an exceptional student athlete at McGill, where she played tennis, basketball, and ice hockey. She also participated in track and field, where she medalled in javelin throw and baseball throw.

Later life and death Coursier continued as a physical education teacher following her retirement from ski jumping. In 1938 she moved to the United Kingdom, and by 1952 she was a ski instructor in Scotland. Later that year she accepted a teaching job in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She returned to Scotland two years later, and studied art in Glasgow. After completing her studies in 1959, she taught in Vancouver for another two years before returning to Scotland, where she remained until she retired from teaching in 1967.

The statue was also inspired by another local ski jumper, , who was part of Team Canada from 2004 to 2008, and joined a lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games after they decided against including women’s ski jump as an event. Lynch’s advocacy for inclusion of women in the sport led her to explore Coursier’s legacy, and the general lack of recognition that female ski jumpers have had in the century since her record breaking jump. In a 2021 Instagram post, Lynch noted that she felt "deeply inspired and even a bit connected to Isabel [Coursier]".

Ski jumping world records