Who was Albertine Lapensée? Hockey fans will tell you she was the first female superstar in a sport where fans live and breathe with each pass of the puck. But historians, like Cornwall author Thom Racine, suggest there’s even more to the story. As it turns out, Albertine also lived as Albert.
Thom is known locally as a hockey fanatic, a sports announcer, and an accomplished author. Through his research, he has uncovered a mystery that goes back to the turn of the century when Albertine scored dozens of goals for the Cornwall Victorias. During the First World War, she played against teams from Ottawa, and member teams of the Eastern Women’s Hockey League of Montreal. She earned the nickname the ‘Miracle Maid’, but her skill was so impressive that it led to cruel speculation about her sex.
In his third book—to be released before year’s end and available at select locations in Cornwall—, Thom will argue that Albertine was born intersex, an individual born with complete or partial reproductive organs of both sexes.
After her playing days were over, Albertine disappeared and her reputation as a hockey phenom faded from the limelight.
Thom’s tale will recount how, in the 1930s, Albertine returned to the area as Albert, married to a woman and with a daughter.
The book, says Thom, is a testimony to the incredible athleticism of the ‘Miracle Maid’, the mystery that surrounds her, and the issues that still resonate in the sports world today. As Thom says, “that’s a hell of a story.”
