Christin Cooper
| Disciplines | Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Combined |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | October 8, 1959 Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | January 19, 1977 (age 17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | March 1984 (age 24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 - (1980, 1984) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 - gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 3 - {1978, 1980, 1982) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 3 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 8 - (1977-1984) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 5 - (1 GS, 2 SL, 2 K) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 26 - (1 SG, 10 GS, 9 SL, 6 K) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 - (3rd in 1982) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 - (2nd GS '84, SL '81) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christin Elizabeth Cooper (born October 10, 1959) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from the United States.
Contents |
Early years [edit]
Born in Los Angeles, California,[1] she was raised in Ketchum, Idaho, and learned to ski and race at neighboring Sun Valley. Cooper's stepfather was William C. "Bill" Janss (1918–96), owner of the Sun Valley Resort until 1977.
After her father William died of cancer in Los Angeles, her mother Glenn moved the family of five children to Ketchum in the late 1960s. At the request of longtime friends Bill and Anne Janss, owners of Sun Valley, Mrs. Cooper founded the arts center for the resort in 1969. Anne Janss died in an avalanche accident near the resort in early 1973;[2] later that year Glenn Cooper and Bill Janss were married, with a combined family of eight children.[3]
Racing career [edit]
As a member of the U.S. Ski Team, Cooper raced on the World Cup circuit from 1977-84. Starting the 1977 season on the "C" team, she made her World Cup debut at age 17 on January 19 and finished 14th in a slalom at Schruns, Austria;[4] a week later she had a tenth place finish in the slalom at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Best in the technical events, she raced in all five disciplines, with World Cup podiums in four. She broke her ankle during training in August, prior to the 1978 season.[5] She competed in the slalom at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch, West Germany,[6] but did not finish.
Cooper's best season in international competition was in 1982, when she won three medals (two silvers and a bronze) at the World Championships at Haus im Ennstal, Austria. She also had three World Cup victories and placed third in the 1982 World Cup overall standings. The previous year, 1981, she finished fourth in the women's overall and second in slalom.
A downhill training crash in late January at Les Diablerets in Switzerland sidelined her for the remainder of the 1983 season. It resulted in a compression fracture in her left tibia just below the knee and required a bone graft from her hip.[7] Cooper returned to form the following season with five early podiums before the 1984 Winter Olympics, and then won the silver medal in the Olympic giant slalom, 0.40 seconds behind teammate Debbie Armstrong at Jahorina. Soon after, a run at her hometown resort of Sun Valley was named in her honor: the run "Silver Fox" on Seattle Ridge was renamed "Christin's Silver." Nearby on Seattle Ridge is "Gretchen's Gold," a run named after Gretchen Fraser, a gold medalist in the slalom at the 1948 Winter Olympics and a mentor to Cooper.
Cooper retired from international competition following the 1984 season, in which she was the runner-up in the season's giant slalom standings. She completed her racing career at age 24 with five World Cup victories, 26 podiums, and 65 top tens.[8]
World Cup results [edit]
Season standings [edit]
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 17 | 35 | 18 | 25 | not run |
— | — |
| 1978 | 18 | 18 | 7 | 20 | — | — | |
| 1979 | 19 | 21 | 16 | — | 42 | — | |
| 1980 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 11 | — | — | |
| 1981 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 42 | 11 | |
| 1982 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 9 | |
| 1983 | 23 | 12 | 16 | 12 | not awarded |
— | 5 |
| 1984 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 29 | 6 |
Race podiums [edit]
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 21 Jan 1981 |  Crans-Montana, Switzerland |
Slalom | 2nd |
| Combined | 3rd | |||
| 31 Jan 1981 | Les Diablerets, Switzerland |
Slalom | 2nd | |
| 03 Feb 1981 |  Zwiesel, West Germany |
Slalom | 3rd | |
| 08 Feb 1981 | Combined | 3rd | ||
| 13 Mar 1981 |  Furano, Japan |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
| 15 Mar 1981 | Slalom | 2nd | ||
| 25 Mar 1981 | Wangs-Pizol, Switzerland |
Giant Slalom | 2nd | |
| 1982 | 21 Dec 1981 |  Saint-Gervais, France |
Combined | 1st |
| 23 Jan 1982 | Berchtesgaden, West Germany |
Slalom | 1st | |
 1982 World Championships |
||||
| 9 Feb 1982 | Oberstaufen, West Germany |
Giant Slalom | 2nd | |
| 21 Mar 1982 | Alpe d'Huez, France |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
| 25 Mar 1982 |  San Sicario, Italy |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
| 27 Mar 1982 | Montgenèvre, France |
Slalom | 1st | |
| 1983 | 17 Dec 1982 | Piancavallo, Italy |
Slalom | 3rd |
| Combined | 1st | |||
| 23 Jan 1983 | Saint-Gervais, France |
Combined | 2nd | |
| 1984 | 14 Dec 1983 | Sestriere, Italy |
Combined | 3rd |
| 22 Dec 1983 | Haus im Ennstal, Austria |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
| 15 Jan 1984 |  Maribor, Yugoslavia |
Slalom | 3rd | |
| 23 Jan 1984 | Limone Piemonte, Italy |
Slalom | 3rd | |
| 29 Jan 1984 | Saint-Gervais, France |
Giant Slalom | 2nd | |
| 1984 Winter Olympics |
||||
| 04 Mar 1984 |  Mt. Ste. Anne, QC, Canada |
Super G | 3rd | |
| 07 Mar 1984 |  Lake Placid, NY, USA |
Giant Slalom | 1st | |
| 11 Mar 1984 | Waterville Valley, NH, USA |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
| 17 Mar 1984 |  Jasná, Czechoslovakia |
Giant Slalom | 3rd | |
Post-racing [edit]
Cooper has worked as a television broadcaster for CBS and NBC, covering alpine ski racing, including the 2010 Vancouver games. She teamed with Tim Ryan, a fellow Ketchum resident, during the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics. Christin and her husband, former U.S. Ski Team member Mark Taché (of Aspen, CO),[9] are co-founders of Montana Ale Works, a public house and restaurant in Bozeman, Montana.[10]
Video [edit]
- You Tube.com - 1984 Winter Olympics - Women's Giant Slalom - 1st run - ABC Sports
References [edit]
- ^ The Ski Channel - top 50 Olympians - accessed 2010-12-27
- ^ "Slide kills skier soon after avalanche check". Modesto Bee. Associated Press. January 23, 1973. p. B-11.
- ^ "Idaho's First Lady of Culture". Sun Valley Guide. Winter 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "Lise-Marie wins slalom". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 20, 1977. p. 39.
- ^ "Cooper has surgery set". (Spartanburg, SC) Herald. Associated Press. August 11, 1977. p. C-4.
- ^ "Idaho, Washington skiers on team". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. January 27, 1978. p. 4B.
- ^ "Cooper's crash rated as one of the best". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. February 23, 1983. p. 4C.
- ^ Ski-db.com - results - Christin Cooper - accessed 2010-03-05
- ^ Ski-db.com - Mark Tache - accessed 2010-03-05
- ^ Montana Ale Works.com - about us - accessed 2011-01-09
External links [edit]
- Christin Cooper at the International Ski Federation
- FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Christin Cooper - 1977-84
- Ski-db.com - results - Christin Cooper
- Sports Reference.com - Olympic results - Christin Cooper
- Sports Illustrated - 1984 Winter Olympics - 20-Feb-1984
- American female alpine skiers
- Olympic alpine skiers of the United States
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States
- Alpine skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics
- Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics
- American sports announcers
- People from Blaine County, Idaho
- 1959 births
- Living people
- Olympic medalists in alpine skiing
- Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics
