Cynthia Lee Nelson (born August 19, 1955) is former World Cup alpine ski racer from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Racing career

Born and raised in

Lutsen Lutsen Township is one of the three townships of Cook County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 537 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Lutsen is located within the township. The township was named after the town of ...

in northeastern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, Nelson's family ran the local ski area and she was on skis before the age of three. She raced in all five alpine disciplines, with a focus on

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

, and was on the World Cup squad of the

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

at age 16. Nelson won the silver medal in the downhill at the 1982 World Championships and was the bronze medalist in the downhill at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

. During her first World Cup season, she had two top-15 finishes in downhill as the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

neared. She was expected to make the U.S. Olympic team, but dislocated a hip in a downhill at Grindelwald on January 18, two weeks before the games began. She missed those Winter Olympics but competed in 1976, 1980, and 1984. Two years after her hip injury she won her first World Cup race back at Grindelwald in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, the first-ever American to gain a World Cup victory in downhill. Nelson's only victory in a World Cup giant slalom was also her only win in

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, in the rain at Whistler,

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. She retired from international competition after the 1985 season with six World Cup wins, 26 podiums, and 123 top ten finishes.

World Cup results

Season standings

Race victories

* 6 wins – (3 DH, 1 SG, 1 GS, 1 K) * 23 podiums – (15 DH, 1 SG, 4 GS, 1 SL, 1 K) * Nelson also won an unofficial Super-G race on March 23,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, a test event in San Sicario,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

World Championship results

From

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

through

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results

Other

In 1979, the

Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The ca ...

trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Nelson's name and picture.

References

External links

*
Cindy Nelson
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Cindy 1955 births Living people American female alpine skiers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in alpine skiing Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics 21st-century American women