Mary Elizabeth Bird Young (June 10, 1910 – November 3, 2002) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

alpine skier who competed at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

. She started, but did not finish, in the women's combined event. She was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and was a member of the White Mountain Ski Club. Prior to the Olympics she had trained at the

Otto Furrer Otto Furrer (19 October 1903 – 26 July 1951) was a Swiss alpine skier and cross-country skier and world champion. Furrer was born in Zermatt. He became a world champion in the combined event, received a silver medal in the slalom and a bro ...

's Ski School in Sankt Anton am Arlberg. After the Olympics she taught at a skiing school in Jackson, New Hampshire before marrying Chris Young, a maker of ski films who worked for

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen ...

. Bird makes a cameo appearance as a skier in the film ''

Schlitz on Mt. Washington ''Schlitz on Mt. Washington'' is a 1937 short film by American filmmaker Christopher Young. Shot on location using 35 mm, the film is said to have required a "Herculean effort," since all the camera equipment and reels had to be hiked up the ...

'', which was produced and directed by Young, who also plays the role of Schlitz. She died in Sharon, Connecticut on November 3, 2002.

References

1910 births 2002 deaths Olympic alpine skiers for the United States Alpine skiers at the 1936 Winter Olympics American female alpine skiers Sportspeople from Chicago 20th-century American women {{US-alpine-skiing-bio-stub