Cooper, Christin (1961—)

American skier. Born in California in 1961.

Won national slalom championship (1977) and the slalom, giant slalom, and overall (1980) and giant slalom (1984); placed 2nd in the slalom at the World Cup (1981) and 2nd in the slalom and giant slalom and 3rd overall (1982); won Olympic silver medal in giant slalom in the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics; reported for CBS television during Nagano games.

When Christin Cooper's family moved from California to Idaho, she began skiing and proved adept on the slopes. She won the Canadian-American title at 15, and by 16 she was national slalom champion. In three World Cup finishes, Cooper was in the top ten. She won the slalom, giant slalom, and overall in the 1980 nationals. That same year, she competed in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid where she was 7th in the giant slalom and 8th in the slalom, the best finishes for any American skier during the 1980 games.

In the 1981 World Championships, Cooper continued to finish among the top scorers: she was 2nd in the slalom and 4th overall; in the 1982 Worlds, she took a silver in the slalom and giant slalom and a bronze in the combined. A broken leg and subsequent surgery took Christin Cooper out of competition for the 1983 season. When the 1984 Olympics arrived, she made a dramatic comeback: righting herself when her skis slipped out from under her five gates from the top, she won a silver in the giant slalom, 40 seconds behind her gold-medaling teammate Debbie Armstrong . Cooper was also national champion in giant slalom that year.

sources:

Howe, N. "The Courage of Christin," in Skiing. Vol. 33. January 1981, pp. 123–125.

Markel, Robert, Nancy Brooks, and Susan Markel. For the Record: Women in Sports. NY: World Almanac Publications, 1985.

Karin Loewen Haag , Athens, Georgia