Cindy Nelson

Cindy Nelson
	Nelson in 1975
Personal information
Born	August 19, 1955 (age 69); Lutsen, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation	Alpine skier
Height	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined, super-G
World Cup debut	December 1971 (age 16)
Retired	April 1985 (age 29)
Olympics
Teams	3 – (1976–84); missed 1972 – hip injury
Medals	1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams	6 – (1974–85); includes 2 Olympics
Medals	3 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	13 – (1972, '74–85)
Wins	6 – (3 DH, 1 SG, 1 GS, 1 K)
Podiums	23
Overall titles	0 – (4th in 1979)
Discipline titles	0 – (2nd in DH, 1978)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
World Championships

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

Racing career

Born and raised in Lutsen in northeastern Minnesota, 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, and was on the World Cup squad of the U.S. Ski Team at age 16.^[1] Nelson won the silver medal in the downhill at the 1982 World Championships^[3] and was the bronze medalist in the downhill at the 1976 Winter Olympics.^[4]^[5]^[6]

During her first World Cup season, she had two top-15 finishes in downhill as the 1972 Winter Olympics neared.^[1] 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.^[7] She missed those Winter Olympics^[8] but competed in 1976, 1980, and 1984.^[9] Two years after her hip injury she won her first World Cup race back at Grindelwald in 1974, 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 North America, in the rain at Whistler, British Columbia.^[10] 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

Season	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1972	16	—	—	—	not run	—	not awarded
1973	17	—	—	—		—
1974	18	15	14	—		—
1975	19	8	28	6		4
1976	20	8	12	6		7	3
1977	21	19	19	19		10	not awarded
1978	22	5	13	8		2
1979	23	4	26	7		4
1980	24	10	43	31		4	3
1981	25	8	15	12		7	7
1982	26	5	25	7		7	3
1983	27	7	39	2	not awarded (w/ GS)	25	7
1984	28	41	—	15		—	—
1985	29	48	—	22		34	—

Race victories

6 wins – (3 DH, 1 SG, 1 GS, 1 K)
23 podiums – (15 DH, 1 SG, 4 GS, 1 SL, 1 K)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1974	January 13, 1974	Grindelwald, Switzerland	Downhill
1975	December 21, 1974	Saalbach, Austria	Downhill
1975	March 1, 1975	Whistler, Canada^[10]	Giant slalom
1976	January 9, 1976	Hasliberg, Switzerland	Combined
1979	February 9, 1979	Pfronten, West Germany	Downhill
1983	January 10, 1983	Verbier, Switzerland	Super-G

Nelson also won an unofficial Super-G race on March 23, 1982, a test event in San Sicario, Italy.^[11]

World Championship results

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1972	16	—	—	not run	—	—
1974	18	11	DNF		18	—
1976	20	13	21		3	4
1978	22	30	15		5	6
1980	24	11	13		7	2
1982	26		16		2	4
1985	29	—	—		25	15

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships 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

Year	Age	Slalom	Giant slalom	Super-G	Downhill	Combined
1972	16	—	—	not run	—	not run
1976	20	13	21		3
1980	24	11	13		7
1984	28	—	18		—

Other

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Nelson's name and picture.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Johnson, William O. (January 27, 1975). "Here Today, Gold Tomorrow". Sports Illustrated: 50.
^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cindy Nelson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
^ Dobbin, Winsor (February 5, 1982). "North Americans conquer downhill". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. 21.
^ Johnson, William Oscar (February 16, 1976). "On came the heroes". Sports Illustrated: 13.
^ Grimsley, Will (February 9, 1976). "Cindy Nelson beats mountain". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. p. 3B.
^ Sullivan, Robert (March 4, 1985). "Cindy Nelson's long skiing career is nearing its final downhill run". Sports Illustrated: 6.
^ "Cindy Nelson's injury jolts U.S. ski hopes". Schenectady Gazette. New York. Associated Press. January 19, 1972. p. 43.
^ Minthorn, David (January 21, 1976). "Cindy Nelson U.S. ski hope". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. p. 31.
^ Kupper, Mike (February 14, 1984). "All uphill, but Nelson comes back". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1-part 3.
^ ^a ^b "Cindy Nelson beats slime in (giant) slalom". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. March 2, 1975. p. 8.
^ "Cindy Nelson winner of new super slalom". Ottawa Citizen. Canada. Associated Press. March 24, 1982. p. 31.
^ Wulf, Steve (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster". Espn.go.com. Retrieved June 4, 2015.