Debra Rae "Debbie" Armstrong (born December 6, 1963) is a former
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
alpine ski racer from
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. She was the first gold medalist from the
U.S.
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 territori ...
in women's
alpine skiing in 12 years, winning the
giant slalom at the
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...
in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
.
Racing career
Born in
Salem,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, Armstrong grew up in Seattle and was a multi-sport athlete at
Garfield High School; in addition to ski racing, she also played
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
,
soccer, volleyball and
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and has been inducted in the Seattle Public School Hall of Fame and
State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
and the U.S. Ski
Hall of Fame.
Debbie Armstrong developed her racing skills in the 1970s at the
Alpental ski area
A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort.
...
at
Snoqualmie Pass
Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County.
Snoqualmie ...
, an hour east of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
on
I-90. The run "Debbie's Gold" and the "Armstrong's Express"
high-speed quad chairlift are named for her.
She was the Junior National Giant Slalom Champion (Squaw Valley) in 1980. After being named to 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 ...
in 1981 she placed 14th in her first World Cup Giant Slalom in Val d'isere, France starting from bib number 68.
She made the 1982 World Championship team in Austria where she broke a leg in a downhill training run and was unable to compete.
She finished 2nd in the
Giant Slalom at the 1983 U.S. Nationals, and placed 3rd in a
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
Super G and 5th in a
Giant Slalom in early January
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, shortly before the next
Olympic games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
.
At the
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...
in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, she became the first American woman to win a gold medal in skiing since
Barbara Cochran
Barbara Ann Cochran (born January 4, 1951) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from the United States.
Born in Claremont, New Hampshire, Cochran was the second of four siblings of the famous " Skiing Cochrans" fam ...
won gold 12 years earlier in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
at
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...
. Taking the silver medal behind her at
Jahorina
Jahorina ( sr-Cyrl, Јахорина, ) is a mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located on the tripoint of the municipalities of Pale, Trnovo, Republika Srpska and Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Part of the Dinaric Alps, it borde ...
was
Sun Valley's Christin Cooper
Christin Elizabeth Cooper (born October 10, 1959) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from the United States.
Early years
Born in Los Angeles, California, she was raised in Ketchum, Idaho, and learned to ski and race at ...
. Later in those games,
Phil Mahre
Phillip Ferdinand Mahre (born May 10, 1957) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer, widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of all time. His total of 27 World Cup race wins is fourth among Americans, only behind Lindsey Vonn, ...
and
Bill Johnson became the first American men to win Olympic gold in alpine skiing, and
Steve Mahre
Steven Irving Mahre (born May 10, 1957 in Yakima, Washington) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and younger twin brother (by four minutes) of ski racer Phil Mahre.
Career
Mahre won the silver medal in slalom at the 1984 Winter Olympics in ...
took the silver in the men's
slalom behind his twin brother. All five alpine medalists from the U.S. were from the
Northwest.
At the 1985
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in Bormio, Italy, Armstrong placed 4th in the giant slalom.
In 1987, Armstrong placed 6th in the
FIS Alpine World Championships Super-G
Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...
. and became the U.S. National Giant Slalom Champion.
She finished 13th in the giant slalom at the
1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Dr. Hubert Armstrong, Armstrong's father, is a clinical psychologist at the University of Washington. He participated in the 1988 Winter Olympics representing the US luge team as the Sports Psychologist. His 1986, Parenting the Elite Athlete (Armstrong Jr. Ph.D., Hubert E. (February/March 1986) has gained traction as a classic sport parenting article in alpine ski racing.
She completed her
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
career with 18 top ten finishes: 7 in the
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 ...
, three in the
Super-G
Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...
, five in the
giant slalom, and three in the
combined.
World Cup results
Season standings
Top ten finishes
World championship results
Olympic results
Post-racing
After her retirement from competitive skiing following the
1988 World Cup season, Armstrong has led various humanitarian causes, including the Debbie Armstrong Say No to Alcohol and Drugs campaign; the SKIFORALL Foundation, which opens skiing events to the disabled; and Global ReLeaf Sarajevo, which seeks to reforest
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
after the
Bosnian war. Armstrong moved to Albuquerque, NM and attended University of New Mexico and earned an undergraduate degree (Bachelor of Science) in History.
Armstrong served as the Ski Ambassador at Taos Ski Valley for eight seasons. Simultaneously, she served a four-year term on the
Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Alpine Demo Team which marked the first time a former US Ski Team athlete qualified for the Demo Team.
The PSIA Demo Team (now known as the PSIA-AASI Alpine Team) is made up of the top ski instructors in the nation. These professionals are "some of the best skiers and riders in the game and they are inspirational educators and lifelong learners. Every four years, thirty men and women are chosen to represent the association following a rigorous selection process. Team members are responsible for promoting, supporting, and assisting with the development of PSIA-AASI education materials, programs, and activities at all levels. They set the standard for U.S. snowsports instruction and embody the ski and snowboard experience."
In 2007, Armstrong moved to
Steamboat Springs,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
where she served one year as Technical Director for the Steamboat Ski Resort (Armstrong 2008, p. 36). In 2008, she became the Alpine Director at the
Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, a world-renowned ski club located in
Steamboat Springs,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, a position she held for six years. Beginning with the 2014 season, Armstrong transitioned to the U10 Head Coach position and Coach Trainer at the
Sports Club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
.
Currently, Armstrong is specializing in the training and development of young skiers (U8-U12)
and serves on numerous
US Ski and Snowboard Task Forces for Education, Athlete Development and Gender Topics. Armstrong produces specialized training videos for coaches and athletes.
Bibliography
* Armstrong Jr., Ph.D., Hubert E.(February/March, 1986). "Parenting the Elite Athlete", Puget Soundings, p6.
* Armstrong, Deb (September, 1987). "The importance of being an all-around athlete
thlete Point of View, American Ski Coach, v11, n1, p38.
* Armstrong, Deb (Fall, 2001). "IMSIA mountain rendezvous 2001: a success of olympic proportions", the professional skier, p44.
* Armstrong, Deb (Winter, 2003). "Turning to tipping and back again: a process of rediscovery", the professional skier, p8.
* Armstrong, Deb (Spring, 2004). "To vary your turn radius, improve your range of lateral motion", the professional skier, p28.
* Armstrong, Deb (Winter, 2005). "Avoid the rainbow rut with new turn tactis", the professional skier, p34.
* Armstrong, Deb (Spring, 2005). "Training for life", the professional skier, p16.
* Armstrong, Deb (Fall, 2005). "My winter with Otto Lang", the professional skier, p28.
* Armstrong, Deb (Winter, 2006). "US Ski Team shares its alpine tactics", the professional skier, p30.
* Armstrong, Deb (Fall, 2006). "Where are you going? A look at directional movement", the professional skier, p26.
* Armstrong, Deb (Spring, 2008). "It's hip to think hips, even if you're a fan of the ankles", the professional skier, p32.
References
External links
*
Debbie ArmstrongWorld Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
*
*
*
*
*
About PSIA-AASI TeamsInternational Skiing History website - bio of Debbie ArmstrongDebra Armstrong Training Videos for technical and tactical ski skill development- A primary emphasis is ideas for ski coaches.
Videos
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Debbie
American female alpine skiers
Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Sportspeople from Salem, Oregon
Skiers from Seattle
1963 births
Living people
Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics
Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in alpine skiing
21st-century American women