Weinbrecht, Donna (1965—)
Weinbrecht, Donna (1965—)
American freestyle skier. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on April 23, 1965; daughter of James Weinbrecht and Caroline Weinbrecht.
Placed 2nd at World championships (1989, 1997); placed 1st (1991), placed 5th (1995); won a gold medal in the moguls in the Albertville Winter Olympics (1992); came in 7th in the moguls at Lillehammer Winter Olympics (1994); won the U.S. championships (1994, 1996), and placed 2nd (1997).
The first great champion in the sport of freestyle skiing, Donna Weinbrecht was also the first Olympic gold medalist in the sport, skiing in a snowstorm at Albertville in 1992 to the accompaniment of "Rock 'n' Roll High School" by the Ramones; nine months later, she suffered a knee injury. With 11 seasons on the tour, Weinbrecht had won 45 World Cup races, more World Cups than any skier in history. Her last two Olympics were disappointing, however; she came in 7th in the moguls at Lillehammer in 1994 (Stine Lise Hattestad of Norway took the gold, U.S.'s Elizabeth McIntyre the silver) and 4th in Nagano in 1998.