1972- Norwegian alpine skier Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, nicknamed "Baby Shark," won two gold medals in Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. These were his second and third Olympic gold medals, and they brought his Olympic medal total to seven—more than any other Alpine skier in history. Aamodt has won top honors at both the Olympics and i…
1963-2001 American skier Diana Golden lost her right leg to cancer at age 12 and then went on to become a world champion disabled skier. During her career, she won ten world champion titles and 19 national titles. She also won the gold medal for disabled skiing at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. More than any other disabled athlete, she helped to popularize disabled sporting events. …
1982- Croatian skier Janica Kostelic With a tenacious spirit forged in her war-torn homeland, Janica Kostelic of Croatia became the only Alpine skier ever to win four medals in one Winter Olympics at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, Utah. She also is Croatia's first Winter Olympic medalist since the country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Kostelic, a nation…
1971- American skier Picabo Street can be called many things, from a "skiing phenomenon" to a "Brat" to an "Amazing Super-G Downhill Force." Street, one of the greatest downhill skiers in U.S. downhill women's history, accumulated an Picabo Street incredible collection of World Championships and Olympic medals in her short career before choos…
1966- Italian skier For thirteen years, Alberto Tomba was the face of skiing. He was known as much for his off-the-slopes carousing and womanizing and for his outrageous comments as he was for his skiing, but his on-the-slopes prowess alone would have been enough to win him a place in skiing history. Over the course of his career he won fifty World Cup skiing events, thirty-five in slalom and fift…
1956- Liechensteinian skier Hanni Wendel is the first person from the tiny European country of Liechtenstein to win an Olympic gold medal. She won not just one, but two gold medals for skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games held in Lake Placid, New York. She very nearly swept all three of the women's Alpine skiing events, earning, in addition to her two golds, a silver medal as well. Her b…