Betsy Snite
 Snite at the 1960 Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1938 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | June 15, 1984 (aged 45) Burlington, Vermont, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined | ||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 – (1956, 1960) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 includes two Olympics | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Betsy Baxter Snite (later Riley, December 20, 1938 – June 15, 1984) was an American alpine ski racer[1][2] and Olympic medalist. She competed in the Winter Olympics in 1956 and 1960 and won the silver medal in the slalom in the latter.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Snite grew up in Norwich, Vermont, and was U.S. slalom champion in 1955 at age 16, edging Olympic gold medalist Andrea Mead Lawrence.[3] She participated in the giant slalom in 1956 at Cortina d'Ampezzo, but did not finish.
Four years later at Squaw Valley, Snite won the silver medal in the slalom.[4] In the giant slalom she finished fourth, but did not finish the downhill.[5] Shortly before the Olympics, she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[6]
According to the Vermont Ski Museum, Betsy learned to ski on Cemetery Hill in Norwich and with the Ford K. Sayre Memorial ski program. When she got too good, she trained with the Dartmouth College ski team.
She married Bill Riley in 1964, and they resided in Vermont at Stowe.[2] She died at age 45 in 1984, after a brief battle with cancer.[7]
Olympic results 
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 17 | — | DSQ | not run | — | not run |
| 1960 | 21 | 2 | 4 | DNF |
References
- ^ "Betsy 'swooshed' to a first and a second". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. January 10, 1959. p. 3, part 2.
- ^ a b Wolfe Stead, Nancy (April 22, 2010). "Remembering Riley's legacy". Stowe Reporter. Vermont. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- ^ "Downhill ski title event today". Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. March 12, 1955. p. 9.
- ^ Sullivan, Jack (February 27, 1960). "Anne Heggtveit wins Olympic slalom". Montreal Gazette. p. 31.
- ^ "German takes Ladies' downhill, Canadians trail". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. February 22, 1960. p. 17.
- ^ Terrell, Roy (February 1, 1960). "Those pretty girls with the killer instinct". Sports Illustrated. p. 34.
- ^ "Betsy Snite Riley, 1938–1984". Skiing. September 1984. p. 50.
External links
- Sports Illustrated cover – February 1, 1960
- Betsy Snite at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
– Olympic results - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame – Betsy Snite
- Vermont Ski Museum – Hall of Fame
- Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Bio
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- 1938 births
- 1984 deaths
- American female alpine skiers
- Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics
- Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States in alpine skiing
- Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics
- Skiers from Vermont
- 20th-century American women
- 20th-century American people
- American Winter Olympic medalist stubs
- American alpine skiing biography stubs