Picabo Street

American alpine ski racer who dominated downhill and super-G events in the 1990s, winning Olympic gold in 1998 and multiple World Cup titles.

Born in Triumph, Idaho in 1971, the future Olympic champion received the placeholder name "Baby Girl Street" at birth, as her parents wanted to allow her to choose her own name. She eventually selected Picabo, after the nearby town of Picabo, Idaho. Growing up in a rural mountain community, she began skiing at age six and showed early promise on the slopes of Sun Valley. Street's professional career took off in the early 1990s when she joined the U.S. Ski Team. She quickly established herself as a force in speed events, particularly downhill and super-G disciplines. Her aggressive, fearless racing style and charismatic personality made her a fan favorite and media darling. The peak of her career came during the mid-to-late 1990s, when she dominated World Cup circuits and became America's premier alpine racer. Street's most significant achievements include winning Olympic silver in the downhill at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics and capturing Olympic gold in the super-G at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. She accumulated 14 World Cup victories throughout her career and won the overall World Cup downhill title in 1995 and 1996. Her 1998 season was cut short by a devastating knee injury during a training run in Austria, where she tore both her ACL and MCL, requiring extensive surgery and 18 months of rehabilitation. Despite the career-threatening injury, Street made a remarkable comeback, though she never fully regained her previous dominant form. She retired from competitive skiing in 2002. Street's impact on American alpine skiing extends beyond her medal count; she brought unprecedented attention and popularity to the sport in the United States during the 1990s. Her combination of athletic excellence and magnetic personality helped elevate women's alpine skiing's profile, making her the most recognizable American female alpine skier of her generation and inspiring a new wave of American competitors.

Aggressive, fearless downhill racer known for attacking courses at high speed

First American woman to win World Cup downhill season title and inspired generation of US ski racers

• Olympic Gold Super-G 1998
• Olympic Silver Downhill 1994
• World Cup Downhill 1995,1996