Local Olympian Honored
BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Olympian Picabo Street has a brand new, satisfying statue on Sun Valley Road in Champions Meadow (formerly known as Festival Meadow).
It’s one thing to have your own statue but another to have it near a place in Blaine County that shares your name. Picabo Street she’s called. At age three she was named after the then Idaho village of Picabo. Her name means “shining waters” in the language of the Sho-Ban tribe. It must be stated that she grew up without television until the age of 14—spurred to join the real-life natural surroundings and beauty of Idaho, encouraging a blistering personality and determined talent for outdoor sports.
An iconic alpine skier, Picabo Street, less into technical perfectionism and more into speed, power and fearlessness, cut icy trails in women’s sports with her outspoken personality and aggressive style. Skiing professionally since the 1990s, it was in 1994 that she won silver at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. A trailblazer who then, in ’96, became the first American woman to win a World Cup downhill title, and then again in ‘97.
A gold medal for the super-G at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, despite a knee injury and concussion just 12 days prior catapulted her into G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) status after defeating Michaela Dorfmeister by one-hundredth of a second. All of her exuberance did not come without its share of problems. Street broke a femur and tore her ACL in the 1998 World Cup downhill race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, after colliding with a fence. She was out for almost two years. However, resilience is the hobgoblin of meager talent. Street persevered. In the minds and hearts of the brave, devastation bloomed into determination and innovation.
After retiring from competitive skiing, Street transitioned into commentating for OBS, FOX, NBC and RSN, offering expert analysis and coverage of skiing events. At the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics, she was a special correspondent for NBC.
Street’s exuberant personality, enthusiasm and agile athleticism garnered her a role on American Gladiators and Stars Earn Stripes. Having legitimately earned her stripes, Street’s image is now cast in bronze for all to see and find inspiration as her statue, in full ‘low tuck’ fury, is on display in Sun Valley.
Women in Sports
American women weren’t expected to attack the slopes. Street ferociously carved them in wide turns at the highest speed as a downhill specialist. Speed was a true savant eliciting excited amour among her teammates and since continues to be a role model for all.
Champions Meadow is a tribute to the female athletes of Sun Valley. Street’s statue is near the entrance to Sun Valley Resort alongside recognized giants like Christin Cooper, Muffy Davis and Kaitlyn Farrington.
Thanks to the City of Sun Valley and at around $180,000 per, the statues are markers of inspiration and tribute to pioneers of this incredible winter sport of pure agility, focus and physical prowess. With the help of Ketchum developer Brian Barsotti, Coca-Cola and private donations, the statues are brilliant, detailed and spectacular.
If you live here or are simply visiting, it’s worth your time to see Street’s, and others’, statues at 200 Sun Valley Road, in Sun Valley.
