James Frederic Heuga (September 22, 1943 – February 8, 2010) was an American
alpine ski racer who became one of the first two members of the U.S. men's team to win an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
medal in his sport.
After
multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
prematurely ended his athletic career, he became an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease.
Born in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Heuga grew up in
Squaw Valley,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, where his father Pascal (1909–2011), a
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
immigrant from southwestern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, opened a grocery store in 1945 in Lake Forest and later operated the
resort's cable car (1968–1988).
Heuga was on skis at age two and began to compete in the sport at age five; he appeared in a Warren Miller ski film at age nine. Heuga was 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 1958, becoming the youngest man ever to make the squad as a fifteen-year-old.[Plati, David. "CU SkiingIcon & Legend Jimmie Heuga Passes Away," University of Colorado Athletics, Tuesday, February 9, 2010.](_blank)
/ref>
He went to the University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
in Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive.
In c ...
, where he was coached by Bob Beattie. A three-time letterman
Letterman may refer to:
* Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States
People
* David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host
** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...
, Heuga won the NCAA championship
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
in the slalom in 1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
. With Beattie also leading the U.S. Ski Team, Heuga, along with fellow Buffaloes Buddy Werner
Wallace Jerold "Buddy" Werner (February 26, 1936 – April 12, 1964) was an American alpine ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Early years
Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Werner was the middle child of Ed "Pop" and Hazel M ...
and Bill Marolt
William Charles Marolt (born September 1, 1943) is a retired American alpine ski racer, coach, and sports administrator. Originally from Aspen, Colorado, Marolt made the U.S. Olympic team in 1964 at age twenty and was twelfth in the giant sla ...
(and future CU alumnus Billy Kidd
{{Infobox alpine ski racer
, name = Billy Kidd
, image = Billy Kidd skier 1970.jpg
, image_size = 220
, caption = Kidd after winning the world title in 1970
, birth_date = {{birth date and ag ...
), formed the squad's nucleus for the 1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...
. Both Kidd and Heuga became the first American men to win Olympic medals in Alpine skiing, respectively capturing silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
and bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
in the slalom.
* finished sixth in the slalom and fourth in the combined at the 1966 World Championships at Portillo, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
* joined the pro racing tour following the 1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...
where he was 7th in the slalom and 10th in the giant slalom.
* was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
in 1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, which derailed his ski racing career at age 27.
* founded Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, formerly The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis.
* the first NASTAR National Pacesetter (1968)
Heuga died on February 8, 2010, at Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive.
In c ...
, due to complications from multiple sclerosis, exactly 46 years after he won his Olympic medal. The gold medalist in that slalom race, Pepi Stiegler
Josef "Pepi" Stiegler (born 20 April 1937 in Lienz, Austria) is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. He was a member of the Austrian national ski team during the late 1950s and early 1960s and was one of the world's premier racer ...
, was also diagnosed with MS in 1993, as was Egon Zimmerman
Egon Zimmermann (8 February 1939 – 23 August 2019), often referred to as Egon Zimmermann II, was a World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Austria. Zimmermann won the Olympic downhill at Patscherkofel in 1964 and won se ...
, the gold medalist in the downhill
Downhill may refer to:
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* ''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 ...
.
World Championship results
From 1948 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
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
were also the 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, ...
for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).
Olympic results
References
External links
*
*
mscando.org
– Can Do Multiple Sclerosis
University of Colorado Athletics
– Hall of Fame – Jimmie Heuga
*
– Jimmie Heuga
– cover – February 5, 1968 – Olympics preview – Billy Kidd & Jimmie Heuga
– February 17, 1964 article
"Skiing History"
Jimmie Heuga obituary with eulogy by Billy Kidd
"Skiing Heritage"
Biography of Jimmie Heuga by Seth Masia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heuga, James
1943 births
2010 deaths
American male alpine skiers
Alpine skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiers at the 1968 Winter Olympics
American people of Basque descent
Neurological disease deaths in Colorado
Deaths from multiple sclerosis
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in alpine skiing
University of Colorado alumni
Sportspeople from San Francisco
Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Colorado Buffaloes athletes
People from Olympic Valley, California
20th-century American people