Picabo Street (ˈpiːkəbuː; born April 3, 1971) is a retired
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alpine ski racerAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
. She won gold medals in
super GThe Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
at the
1998 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Nagano, Japan. The speed events were held at Hakuba and the technical events at Shiga Kogen. There were a number of postponements due to weather; the races were run from February 10-21, 1998.-Downhill:The event was held...
and in downhill at
1996 World ChampionshipsThe FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held at Sierra Nevada near Granada city in southeastern Spain, February 12-25, 1996. The championships were to be held in 1995, but were postponed due to lack of snow.-Medals table:...
, along with three other Olympic and World Championship medals. She also won World Cup downhill season titles in
1995The 29th World Cup season began in December 1994 at Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1995 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. The overall champions were Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland...
and
1996The 30th World Cup season began in November 1995 in Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1996 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall champions were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Katja Seizinger of Germany....
, the first American woman to do so, along with a total of 9 World Cup downhill race wins. Street was inducted into the
National Ski Hall of FameThe U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in the City of Ishpeming in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States...
in 2004.
Early life
Street was born in
TriumphTriumph is an unincorporated village in the East Fork of Big Wood River, Blaine County, Idaho, United States. Triumph was the location of the famous Triumph Mine, which closed in 1957 after a history of producing millions of dollars in silver and lead since its discovery in the late 19th century....
,
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, and was named (as a toddler) after the nearby village of
PicaboPicabo is an unincorporated community in Blaine County, Idaho, United States. Picabo is located along U.S. Highway 20, about west of Carey, southeast of Hailey, and northeast of Shoshone. It has a gas station, country store, post office, and a small airport. The community is surrounded by...
. She was raised on a small farm in Triumph, several miles southeast of
Sun ValleySun Valley is a resort city in Blaine County in the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum, lying within the greater Wood River valley. Tourists from around the world enjoy its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling. The population was 1,427...
, where she learned to ski and race. She attended
Rowland Hall-St. Mark's SchoolRowland Hall is a college preparatory school with approximately 1,000 students on two campuses in Salt Lake City, Utah.-General information:Rowland Hall traces its roots to St. Mark's School, which was founded in Salt Lake City by Episcopal Bishop Daniel Sylvester Tuttle in 1867. In support of...
in Salt Lake City,
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, and participated in its ski academy, Rowmark, for one year before returning to Sun Valley to race for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Before the academy, she was a member of the local
HaileyHailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 6,200 at the 2000 census. Hailey is the site of Friedman Memorial Airport , the airport for the resort area of Sun Valley/Ketchum, north. The town...
Ski Team.
Skiing career
Street first joined the
U.S. Ski TeamThe United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....
in
1989The 23rd World Cup season began in November 1988 in Austria and concluded in March 1989 in Japan.The overall champions were Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland....
, at the age of 17. She primarily competed in the speed events of downhill and
super GThe Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
and made her World Cup debut at age 21 in a
slalomSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
on December 6,
1992The 27th World Cup season began in November 1992 in Sestriere, Italy, and concluded in March 1993 in Åre, Sweden. Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg won his fifth overall title, which still stands as the most in World Cup history...
.
After her silver medal performance in the downhill at the
1994 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Lillehammer, Norway. The speed events were held at Kvitfjell and the technical events at Hafjell, from February 13-27, 1994.-Downhill:February 13, 1994-Super G:February 17, 1994...
, a run was named after her at
Sun ValleySun Valley is a resort city in Blaine County in the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum, lying within the greater Wood River valley. Tourists from around the world enjoy its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling. The population was 1,427...
, on the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain, the expert run formerly known as "Plaza" became "Picabo's Street." Street joined
Christin CooperChristin Elizabeth Cooper is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from Ketchum, Idaho.-Racing career:...
and
Gretchen FraserGretchen Kunigk Fraser was an alpine ski racer. She was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing....
as Sun Valley Olympic medalists (their named runs are on Seattle Ridge).
By winning the
1995The 29th World Cup season began in December 1994 at Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1995 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. The overall champions were Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland...
downhill title, she became the first American ever to win a World Cup season title in a speed event. She repeated as downhill champion the following season, adding the title of world champion with her gold medal at the
1996 World ChampionshipsThe FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held at Sierra Nevada near Granada city in southeastern Spain, February 12-25, 1996. The championships were to be held in 1995, but were postponed due to lack of snow.-Medals table:...
in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In early December 1996, she suffered a knee injury in training in Colorado after competing in just two races and sat out the remainder of the
1997The 31st World Cup season began in October 1996 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 1997 at the World Cup finals in Vail, Colorado, U.S.A. The overall winners were Luc Alphand of France and Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden....
season. A month after her gold medal win in the super G at the
1998 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Nagano, Japan. The speed events were held at Hakuba and the technical events at Shiga Kogen. There were a number of postponements due to weather; the races were run from February 10-21, 1998.-Downhill:The event was held...
, Street careened off course while racing at the final downhill of the
1998The 32nd World Cup season began in October 1997 in Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1998 at the World Cup Finals in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. The overall winners were Hermann Maier of Austria and Katja Seizinger of Germany....
season at
Crans-MontanaCrans-Montana is a ski resort in western Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1500 m above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. She crashed and snapped her left
femurThe femur , or thigh bone, is the most proximal bone of the leg in tetrapod vertebrates capable of walking or jumping, such as most land mammals, birds, many reptiles such as lizards, and amphibians such as frogs. In vertebrates with four legs such as dogs and horses, the femur is found only in...
and
tore a ligamentAn injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can be a debilitating musculoskeletal injury to the knee, seen most often in athletes. Non-contact tears and ruptures are the most common causes of ACL injury....
in her right knee.
She was in
rehabilitationPhysical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
for two years following the accident.
Street returned to ski racing in late
2000The 35th World Cup season began in October 2000 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2001 at the World Cup finals at Åre, Sweden. The overall winners were Hermann Maier of Austria and Janica Kostelić of Croatia....
, and retired from international competition after the
2002 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. The downhill, Super G, and combined events were held at Snowbasin, the giant slalom at Park City, and the slalom at Deer Valley...
in
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, where she finished 16th in the downhill.
Personal life
Street is now retired and splits her time between homes in
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and
Park CityPark City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
,
UtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. She has a son, Treyjan James Pawley, born in August 2004, with her former partner N. J. Pawley. On October 25, 2008, she married businessman John Reeser atop Prospect Mountain, near
Hanceville, AlabamaHanceville is a city in Cullman County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,951.-Geography:Hanceville is located at .According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
. On August 3, 2009, Picabo gave birth to her second son, Dax Meyer Street Reeser, in
BirminghamBirmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
.
On ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's "College Game Day" in BoiseBoise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
on September 25, 2010, Picabo stated that she was pregnant and expecting her third boy.
She named her skis mainly after people who were strong and meant a lot to her. Among them, she has her "Earnies" (after Dale EarnhardtRalph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
) and her "Arnolds" (after Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
).
She appeared on the TV shows Nickelodeon GUTSNickelodeon GUTS is an American television reality "action sports" competition series hosted by actor/comedian Mike O'Malley and officiated by British actress Moira "Mo" Quirk. The series was broadcast by the cable television network Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1995...
in 1994, and PyramidPyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
(2002). She did very well on the show American GladiatorsAmerican Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own gladiators, in contests of strength and agility.The concept was created by...
, where Street used her strength to defeat the gladiator character "Ice" in a couple of events.
In the late 1990s, after her success at the 1998 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Nagano, Japan. The speed events were held at Hakuba and the technical events at Shiga Kogen. There were a number of postponements due to weather; the races were run from February 10-21, 1998.-Downhill:The event was held...
, Street became a spokeswoman for a variety of products, including the soft drink Mountain DewMountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
and ChapStickChapStick is a brand name for lip balm manufactured by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and used in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Colombia, Italy, Chile, Pakistan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is intended to help treat and prevent chapped...
-brand lip balmLip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied topically to the lips of the mouth to relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. Lip balm often contains beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, cetyl alcohol, lanolin, paraffin, and petrolatum, among other ingredients...
. She also appeared on Celebrity Paranormal ProjectCelebrity Paranormal Project is a paranormal reality television series that originally aired from October 22, 2006 to November 1, 2007 on VH1. The show is currently on hiatus, so it is unknown if VH1 will re-air the show and begin with a second season...
.
She wrote an autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
in 2001 titled Picabo: Nothing to Hide (ISBN 0-07-140693-X). In it, Street reveals the pressures placed on her by her sponsors to succeed and win, which she maintains contributed to her devastating 1998 crash. She also writes of how she was able to transform from a rebellious tomboyA tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
into a world-class athlete.
A feature film based on Street's life story is in development as of late 2009, written by Eric Preston with director Charles Winkler slated to direct, and produced by Jeff Luini and Richard Weiner. Filming will begin in 2010 in ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
She appeared in a skit on Sesame Street where Telly Monster was looking for Peekaboo Street and he met the real Picabo Street.
Season titles
| Season |
Discipline |
| 1995 The 29th World Cup season began in December 1994 at Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1995 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. The overall champions were Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland...
|
Downhill |
| 1996 The 30th World Cup season began in November 1995 in Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1996 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall champions were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Katja Seizinger of Germany....
|
Downhill |
Podiums
| Season |
Date |
Location |
Race |
Place |
| 1993 The 27th World Cup season began in November 1992 in Sestriere, Italy, and concluded in March 1993 in Åre, Sweden. Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg won his fifth overall title, which still stands as the most in World Cup history...
|
13-Mar-1993 |
 KvitfjellKvitfjell is a ski resort in the municipality of Ringebu, Norway. Kvitfjell is one of the most modern resorts in the world, with 85% of the alpine skiing pistes covered in artificial snow. Based near the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, the resort offers 23 pistes: 5 green , 9 blue , 6 red , and 3 black...
, NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
|
Downhill |
2nd |
| 1995 The 29th World Cup season began in December 1994 at Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1995 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. The overall champions were Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland...
|
09-Dec-1994 |
 Lake Louise, CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
|
Downhill |
1st |
| 11-Dec-1994 |
Super G The Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
|
3rd |
| 14-Jan-1995 |
 GarmischGarmisch Classic is an alpine ski resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany. The resort is in the Bavarian Alps, and its maximum elevation is 6726 feet above sea level, with a vertical drop of 4429 feet...
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
|
Super G |
2nd |
| 20-Jan-1995 |
 Cortina d'AmpezzoCortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene...
, ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
|
Downhill |
2nd |
| 21-Jan-1995 |
Downhill |
1st |
| 17-Feb-1995 |
 Åre, SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
|
Downhill |
1st |
| 04-Mar-1995 |
 Saalbach, AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
|
Downhill |
1st |
| 11-Mar-1995 |
 LenzerheideLenzerheide is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It lies at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village belongs to the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein....
, SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
|
Downhill |
1st |
| 15-Mar-1995 |
Bormio Bormio is a town and comune located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. It has a population of 4,200...
, Italy |
Downhill |
1st |
| 1996 The 30th World Cup season began in November 1995 in Tignes, France, and concluded in March 1996 at the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway. The overall champions were Lasse Kjus of Norway and Katja Seizinger of Germany....
|
01-Dec-1995 |
Lake Louise, Canada |
Downhill |
1st |
| 16-Dec-1995 |
St. Anton, Austria |
Downhill |
3rd |
| 19-Jan-1996 |
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy |
Downhill |
1st |
| 20-Jan-1996 |
Downhill |
2nd |
| 03-Feb-1996 |
 Val-d'Isère, FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
|
Downhill |
2nd |
| 29-Feb-1996 |
Narvik is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
, Norway |
Downhill |
1st |
| 01-Mar-1996 |
Downhill |
2nd |
External links
Results
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