James Heuga
Encyclopedia
James Frederic "Jimmie" Heuga (September 22, 1943 – February 8, 2010) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alpine ski racer
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
who became one of the first two members of the U.S. men's team to win an Olympic
Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...
medal in his sport. After multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
prematurely ended his athletic career, he became an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease.
Heuga was born in Tahoe City
Sunnyside-Tahoe City, California
Sunnyside-Tahoe City is a census-designated place in Placer County, California, located on the northwest shore of Lake Tahoe. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on September 22, 1943. He grew up in Squaw Valley, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where his father Pascal, a Basque
Basque-American
Basque Americans are citizens of the United States who are of Basque ancestry. According to the 2000 US census, there are 57,793 Americans of full or partial Basque descent...
immigrant from southern France, operated the resort's
Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, California, is one of the largest ski areas in the United States, and was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the second-largest ski area at Lake Tahoe , with 33 chairlifts, and has the only funitel lift in the U.S...
cable car
Cable car
A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...
. Jimmie Heuga was on skis at age two and began to compete in the sport at age 5; he appeared in a Warren Miller
Warren Miller (director)
Warren Miller is an American ski and snowboarding filmmaker. He is the founder of Warren Miller Entertainment and produced, directed and narrated his films until 1988. His credits include over 750 sports films, several books and hundreds of published non-fiction stories...
ski film at age 9. Heuga was named to the U.S. Ski Team
United States Ski Team
The United States Ski Team, operated under the auspices of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association , develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, adaptive alpine, freestyle skiing, cross country, adaptive cross country, ski jumping, and nordic combined....
in 1958, becoming the youngest man ever to make the squad as a 15-year-old.
He went to the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, where he met and was coached by Bob Beattie. A three-time letterman, Heuga won the 1963 NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
championship in the slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
. With Beattie also leading the U.S. Ski Team, Heuga, along with fellow Buffaloes Buddy Werner
Buddy Werner
Wallace "Buddy" Werner was an American ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Werner and his siblings were accomplished skiers, and competed in both alpine and Nordic events on Howelsen Hill...
and Bill Marolt (and future CU alumnus Billy Kidd
Billy Kidd
William Winston "Billy" Kidd is a former alpine ski racer, a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962-70 and a pro racer from 1970-72...
), formed the squad's nucleus for the 1964 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 7, 1964.The men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....
. Both Kidd and Heuga became the first American men to win Olympic medals in Alpine skiing, respectively capturing silver
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
and bronze
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in the slalom.
- finished sixth in the slalom and fourth in the combinedAlpine skiing combinedCombined is an alpine skiing event. Although not technically a discipline of its own, it is sometimes referred to as a fifth alpine discipline, along with downhill, super G, giant slalom, and slalom.-Traditional & Super-Combined:...
at the 1966 World ChampionshipsFIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 were held in Portillo, Chile, from August 4–14, 1966.To this day, it remains as the only alpine world championship contested in the southern hemisphere...
at PortilloPortillo, ChilePortillo is a ski resort located from Santiago, Chile, near the city of Los Andes. It rises 2880 meters above sea level and its highest point reaches 3332 meters above sea level. Ski Portillo has 23 ski trails and 12 lifts....
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... - joined the pro racing tour following the 1968 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1968 Winter OlympicsAlpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Grenoble, France. The six events were held at Chamrousse from February 9–17, 1968.Jean-Claude Killy won all three men's events, repeating Toni Sailer's triple-gold of 1956...
where he was 7th in the slalomSlalom skiingSlalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
and 10th in the giant slalomGiant Slalom skiingGiant slalom is an alpine skiing discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a greater distance to each other than in slalom but less than in super G....
. - was diagnosed with multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
in 19701970 Alpine Skiing World CupThe fourth World Cup season began in December 1969 in France and concluded in March 1970 in Norway. Karl Schranz of Austria won his second consecutive overall title. Michèle Jacot of France won the women's overall title....
, which derailed his ski racing career at age 27. - founder of 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
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, due to complications that from multiple sclerosis.
External links
- Article in Ski Magazine
- mscando.org – Can Do Multiple Sclerosis
- University of Colorado Athletics – Hall of Fame – Jimmie Heuga
- Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame – Jimmie Heuga
- Sports Illustrated – cover – 05-Feb-1968 – Olympics preview – Billy Kidd & Jimmie Heuga
- Sports Illustrated – 17-Feb-1964 article
- Stars and Stripes – archives – 09-Feb-1964 – European edition
- FIS-ski.com – Jimmie Heuga – Top Ten results – Olympics & World Championships
- Ski-db.com – results – Jimmie Heuga
- Weber, Bruce. "Jimmie Heuga, an Early U.S. Ski Medalist, Dies at 66," The New York Times - Friday, February 12, 2010.
- US Ski Team.com - Olympic medalist Jimmie Heuga dies - 2010-02-08