October 6, 2004 – She was born in Golden, which seems perfect for an Olympian. As a child, Sara Renner never knew she could walk until the snow melted. She lived on cross-country skis, and still does. “There was seven feet of snow,” she says. “So I really did grow up on cross-country skis.”

She never grew out of them. A two-time Olympian, Renner figured she would finish her racing career at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. Then Vancouver and Whistler were awarded the 2010 Games and now she isn’t so sure. As she trains in Canmore, Alta., for the November start of her eighth World Cup cross-country season in Europe, the 28-year-old’s ambition is undiminished. She wants a family. She wants an Olympic medal, too. The order isn’t important if she gets both. “I thought I’d be done after Nagano [in 1998],” Renner says from Canmore. “I thought I wouldn’t have that fire, thought I’d lose my passion. But it never happened.

“There are so many other things I’ve always wanted to do. Now, I realize I have time for all those other things. But the time for being an athlete is so limited, you have to take advantage of it. “If Vancouver hadn’t gotten the Olympics, I could honestly say 2006 would be my last Olympics. Now that we’ve got the Olympics, there’s room for continuing.”

Renner was ninth in the 1.5-kilometre sprint, her strongest event, at the Olympics in Salt Lake City two years ago. She was seventh at the world championships in 2003 and feels she is getting faster each year. Elite cross-country skiers often peak in their 30s. Renner says she wants to seriously challenge for medals in Turin. She will make her decision for 2010 on her competitiveness in ’06.

“I definitely feel like I’m improving each year and feeling stronger each year,” Renner says. “That’s what’s so motivating and keeps me going. I really feel like I’m clawing my way up and getting closer and closer. At the top, one or two seconds is the difference between ninth and the podium. I feel like I’m picking up a couple of seconds a year.”

The clock at the finish line isn’t the only one ticking. Renner says if she continues to 2010 she’ll likely take a year off after Turin to have a baby. She isn’t worried about the possibility of trying to survive a maternity leave to compete in Whistler. “Quite a few women have done that,” she says. “One of my teammates, Milaine Therieault, has a one-year-old baby and she’s back training and looking strong. Quite a few women have families [on the World Cup circuit]. It’s not new. There are lots of husbands trying to keep up with their wives.”

Renner has a match in husband Thomas Grandi, 31, a national alpine ski team member whose slalom silver medal in Austria last January is the highest finish by a Canadian man in a technical alpine event. Smitten after an initial meeting with Renner, Grandi used to plan training runs around the Renner family’s back-country lodge, perched on the British Columbia side of the Rockies.

On one bike ride, Grandi ambushed Renner and her friends as they were planning to sleep out under the stars. It didn’t take much convincing for Grandi to join them, but he had only cycling shorts with him. Renner loaned him a pair of pants. So don’t ask who wears them in the family. It’s complicated.

Renner and Grandi were married in April, 2003. The bride wore boards. The couple and their guests telemark skied across the Continental Divide for a ceremony in the woods. There was driving rain. Renner wore her grandmother’s fur coat. Everyone else got cold. Anyway, it was beautiful.

After stints in Golden, Invermere and Canmore, Renner’s parents established the Mount Assiniboine Lodge. It is accessed by a 28-kilometre trail from Canmore, where Renner and Grandi live during the six months they aren’t criss-crossing mountain ranges in Europe during their separate World Cup campaigns.

Just as Renner emerged from the wilderness, so has her sport in Canada thanks to teammate Beckie Scott’s gold medal in Salt Lake City. “I think her success has really been our team’s success,” Renner said. “The public awareness of cross-country skiing has gone up since her medal in Salt Lake City. Our sport has been able to benefit. “Beckie paved the path for me in World Cup. Nothing but good things can come when you have a successful teammate.”

Renner was 11 when the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary. She says those Games sparked her racing career. She admits there’s symmetry to the idea of ending her cross-country career when the Olympics return to Canada. “I’m really a product of the Olympics in Calgary, watching as a kid,” Renner says. “Vancouver would have the same impact on kids. It will be totally inspiring. If I go to Vancouver, it would be my fourth Olympics. That would be a dream for sure.”