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…
1969- Austrian downhill skier Petra Kronberger dominated women's alpine skiing for a few brief years between 1988 and 1992. Although she skied on the World Cup circuit for fewer than six full seasons, in that time Kronberger won three World Cup overall titles and two Olympic gold medals. Yet her personality was as famous and appreciated in Austria as her winning record. Kronberger prayed wh…
1952- German skier East German skier Ulrich Wehling is one of six competitors who have won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same event—the Nordic Combined. After retiring from skiing, he moved to Switzerland, and is a member of the National Olympic Committee in Germany. In 2002, he was named to Bud Greenspan's list of 25 Greatest Winter Olympians. …
Tamara McKinney 1962- American skier Tamara McKinney was the best American woman on skis in the 1980s. She was only 16 when she first finished in the top three in a World Cup ski event in 1978, and her dominance in the sport continued through her victory in the combined event at the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Alpine Ski Championships in 1989. She is still the only American wom…
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…
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. …
1957- American skier Phil Mahre is the most successful ski racer in U.S. history; he has won more events and awards than anyone else, including a silver medal in the 1980 Olympics, three World Cup titles in 1981, 1982, and 1983, and a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Address: c/o SportsMark Management Group, 80 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd #2A, Larkspur, CA 94939. Fax:(415) 461-5804. Phone: (415) 4…
1972- Austrian skier Austrian Alpine skier Hermann Maier burst from obscurity at the relatively old age of 25 to win three World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals in 1998, despite a death-defying fall in an Olympic downhill race that season. He dominating the skiing world for the next three seasons, until a severe motorcycle accident in the summer of 2001 prevented him from competing during t…
1943- French skier Downhill ski racer Jean-Claude Killy won the first World Cup overall title in 1967, and took gold medals in all three alpine races at the 1968 Olympic Games. He was instrumental in organizing the 1982 Olympic Games in Albertville, France, and is a member of the International Olympic Committee. He also founded a successful ski apparel company. Address: 13 Chemin Bellefontaine, 12…
1958- Finnish cross-country skier Harri Kirvesniemi Harri Kirvesniemi and his wife, Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen, were the best cross-country skiers in Finland for many years. Hämäläinen was the more successful of the pair in terms of first-place finishes, but both consistently finished in the top five in international events for about twenty years. H�…
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…
1956- Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark won a record 86 World Cup racesduring his 15-year career. He dominated the slalom and giant slalom courses, winning titles in both events for seven consecutive years, from 1975 to 1981. A three-time winner of the overall World Cup, Stenmark also has two Olympic and three World Championship gold medals. Known as the King of Slalom because of his unmatched techni…
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…
1955- American cross-country skier Cross-country skier Bill Koch is the only American ever to medal in cross-country skiing at the Olympic Games. He won a silver medal in the 30-km freestyle race at the 1976 Olympics, and also competed in the 1980, 1984, and 1992 Olympics. He was first in World Cup standings in 1982, the first American ever to reach this position, and third in 1983. Bill Koch on C…
1911-1998 Norwegian ski jumper In Norway, Birger Ruud is a national hero. He was not only a champion ski jumper; he was also a fierce patriot. He won two Olympic gold medals and one silver. In world championships, he won three gold medals and one silver. During World War II he joined the Resistance and used his skiing skills to subvert the Nazis who had invaded his country. His skill was the resul…
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…
