Kreiner made the national 'B' team at age 13 for a year, and was promoted to the 'A' team in the summer of 1971. She had her first World Cup top ten result in mid-January 1972, a sixth place in a downhill at Grindelwald, Switzerland. Three weeks later, Kreiner placed 14th in the slalom at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. She made her first World Cup podium in 1973 at Alyeska in Alaska in giant slalom,[13] and gained her first and only World Cup victory at age 16 in 1974 at Pfronten, West Germany.[14] Kreiner raced ten seasons on the World Cup circuit and finished with one victory, seven podiums, and 47 top tens. After her Olympic victory, she was named the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year in 1976.[4][15]
From 1948 to 1980, the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships for alpine skiing, making the Olympic champion the concurrent world champion.[4] Kreiner was immediately inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame at age 18,[16] and was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.[17]
Kreiner's Olympic win in 1976 surprised even her; she had shipped home most of her items from Innsbruck and had to borrow a uniform for the medal ceremony.[1] Her older sister Laurie was also a World Cup racer and two-time Olympian; she had the 28th starting position (of 43) and had tears of joy for Kathy while still in the starting gate and finished 27th.[1] Laurie had just missed an Olympic medal in 1972 with a fourth place in the giant slalom.[18]
Kreiner married Dave Phillips, a former freestyle skier with the Canadian national team. As of 2020, she remains the only Olympic gold medallist from Timmins.
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
