Willy Juana Stähle (16 June 1954 – 27 August 2015) was a Dutch world water skiing champion. As a young child, Stähle lived in Venezuela, where she learned water skiing from her father. Back in the Netherlands, the family lived in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

and she went to school in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

. In 1968 she won her first Dutch national championship water skiing. The next year, at the age of 15, she won her first European championship, and in 1971 her one world championship, in the trick discipline. For that achievement she became the Dutch Sportswoman of the Year in 1971. Stähle won a gold and a silver medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

for women's figure skiing and slalom, respectively; however, Olympic water skiing was considered a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

at the time and her medals did not go toward the official count. In 1975, after winning 26 European titles, Stähle retired from water skiing at the age of 21. She became a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

and a

parachuting Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

enthusiast. On 7 August 1983, she suffered a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. It is a destructive neurological and pathological state that causes major motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions. Symptoms of ...

in a parachute jump, leaving her

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

at the age of 29. In the late 1980s, she enrolled as an arts student at the Rietveld Academie. From the 2000s, she preferred to live in anonymity. Stähle's death was announced on 1 September 2015. She's buried at the Zorgvlied cemetery in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

References

1954 births 2015 deaths Water skiers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands People from Bergen, North Holland Dutch water skiers Olympic water skiers for the Netherlands Sportspeople from North Holland Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery 20th-century Dutch sportswomen {{Netherlands-bio-stub