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Jean Saubert, who asked,
"Would you accept a donation of trophies?"
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NWSCC Scholarship winner aspire to to Jean Saubert
skiing accomplishments |
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By Sheri Parshall |
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"were you in the Olympics?" "Yes," she replied. |
One of my various
responsibilities for the Northwest Ski Club Council is to answer
the many telephone messages left with our answering service. The
telephone calls range from informational (someone wants to get
information on a particular club) to humorous ("I have a couple
packages of 5-year-old ski wax I'd like to donate-who do I
call?"). This past July, I answered a message left by a woman
named Jean Saubert, who asked, "Would you accept a donation of
trophies?" |
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Jean Saubert, who had won two medals, silver and bronze, in
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics! " |
The woman on the other
end of the telephone line was Jean Saubert, who had won two
medals, silver and bronze, in Alpine skiing at the 1964 Innsbruck
Winter Olympics! "Oh my gosh, Jean, you're not giving up your
medals!!" I cried. I panicked-I was already thinking that I was
going to have to call Betsy Valian and ask if they had an "Olympic
Skiers" display at the new
Mt. Hood Museum. To my relief, she said
no, that she was keeping the Olympic medals (I did tell her about
the museum, though, just in case). I chatted with her awhile
longer, making arrangements to pick up the trophies at her home
the following Saturday. I couldn't help thinking that, geez, we
have one of the premier athletes of the world, and a pioneer in
women's athletics, right here in Oregon, and NOBODY KNOWS! |
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(Jean is) in love with skiing now as she was in 1964 |
Since I belong to
Skiyente Ski Club, an all-women club that was founded in 1955 and
whose goal is the promotion of women in skiing, Jean's story was
of particular interest to me. I was able to spend an hour with
this fascinating woman, who is as much in love with skiing now as
she was in 1964. |
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Jean was born and raised in Oregon and trained on our own Mt.
Hood and Mt. Bachelor |
Jean was born and
raised in Oregon and trained on our own Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor.
She made the 1964 Innsbruck Olympic team, along with Jimmie Heuga
and Billy Kidd (see photo opposite). Even after her international
ski career ended, she continued to race competitively, attending
charity pro-am races as a former Olympian. She finished college in
Utah, became a teacher, and took up soccer. One of her teams won a
national soccer championship. Jean laughed, "I'm so competitive,"
she said, "that if I was sitting in a room stuffing envelopes, I'd
have to stuff the most." |
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The U.S. Olympic Team in Innsbruck won only six medals that
year, and Jean brought home two of them |
Thanks to our new world
of endorsements and other commercial endeavors, everyone can tell
you who Picabo Street is. Tommy Moe and yes, even Oregon's Bill
Johnson are known outside the skiing world. People still talk
about Billy Kidd, whose bespectacled, cowboy-hatted countenance is
recognized all over the world. But Jean Saubert-our outstanding
American woman medallist? Zero, zippo, zilch, nada. The U.S.
Olympic Team in Innsbruck won only six medals that year, and Jean
brought home two of them. But you won't see her face on ESPN or
NBC, American Express commercials or a Wheaties box like other
past Olympic medallists. Does it bother Jean? Maybe a little. What
bothers her more is the concern that teammates may not be as
supportive of each other when they're competing for the same
endorsement dollars. |
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Valuable used ski trophies, anyone? |
The fact that remains
that Jean is an American skiing heroine, an Oregon treasure, and,
thanks to my ski club and this council, I'm lucky enough to have
gotten to know her. She's on her way to Utah so that she can, as
she tells it, "get back in the trenches" and do some volunteer
work for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Maybe this time around those
network idiots will realize what a prize having Jean Saubert as a
commentator would be. And trust me, if she comes back to Oregon,
she's not escaping us again.
Valuable used ski trophies, anyone? |
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