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Picabo Street

Plagued By Injuries

Though she would continue to add some phenomenal victories to her accomplishments (she repeated at the World Cup the following year, and won a gold medal in the Super-G in the 1998 Winter Olympics), Picabo's career was soon hampered by a string of injuries. When she crashed in December of 1996, she tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments of her left knee. She also pulled her calf muscle off the bone and broken her femur. Following a 1998 Olympic gold medal, she crashed yet again, in January, and though she did not sustain any major injuries, was bruised badly and was unconscious for several minutes.

Chronology

1971	Born April 3 in Triumph, Idaho
1978	Started organized racing because she wanted to "race the boys"
1985	Lands a spot on the U.S. junior ski team—she's fifteen years old
1986	Moves up to work with the U.S. ski team for the 1987-88 season
1988	Wins the national junior downhill and Super G titles
1989	Joins U.S. Ski Team
1990	Suspended from the team for her attitude and her tendency to stay out past curfew and falling out of shape
1991	Returns to the U.S. ski team in better shape and with a better attitude
1992	Ranked eighth in the world, Picabo is the U.S. ski team's top racer
1993	Takes the World Championship silver medal in combined downhill and slalom in Morioka, Japan (also wins gold at U.S. Alpine Championships)
1994	Earns her first silver medal in the downhill at Winter Olympics
1994-95	Becomes the first American to win the World Cup women's downhill championship
1996	Captures the World Cup women's downhill for a second time
1996	Suffers a serious knee injury in December after crashing on a course
1998	Brings home gold medal for the super giant slalom (Super G) after slowly recovering from her injury and returning full strength in time for the games
1998	Breaks her left femur in March in final World Cup race of the season. Suffers several other injuries following her broken leg. She is out of action for 33 months
2001	Kicked off the slopes at Copper Mountain for skiing too fast on an intermediate run
2001-02	Leading downhill qualifier for U.S. Olympic ski team
2002	Retires from competetive skiing after finishing 16th in Women's Olympic downhill

Awards and Accomplishments

1991	U.S. Championships (3rd)
1993	U.S. Championships Super-G (1st); U.S. Championships Combined (2nd); U.S. Championships Downhill (3rd); World Championships Combined (2nd); World Championships Downhill (10th)
1994	U.S. Championships Downhill (1st); U.S. Championships Super-G (2nd); Olympics Downhill (2nd); Olympics Super-G U.S. Championships Downhill (1st); U.S. Championships Super-G (1st); World Championships Downhill (1st); World Championships Super-G (3rd)
1998	Olympics Super-G (1st); Olympics Downhill (6th)
2001	U.S. Championships Downhill (2nd)

In March of 1998, Street crashed yet again, this time breaking her leg in nine different places. The injury was

Picabo Street

severe enough to put her out of competition for over a year, as well as force her to endure several painful operations. She vowed to come back, however, and after another dedicated few years of training, qualified for the 2002 Olympic Games.

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsSkiingPicabo Street Biography - Growing Up, Not Amateur For Long, Rebuilding, Plagued By Injuries, Chronology, Awards And Accomplishments - CONTACT INFORMATION, SELECTED WRITINGS BY STREET: