Talk:Suzy Chaffee

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Did Suzy Chaffee really win an Olympic gold medal? I can find many web pages that say she did, but not one of them gives the event or even the year. The year I think must have been 1968, but she is not listed as a medal winner in alpine or nordic skiing for that year, here at Wikipedia or anywhere else I searched. Rbraunwa 03:46, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

No database I can find of Olympic medalists lists Suzy Chaffee as winning a medal in any Olympics. I'm going to remove the "gold medal" reference. Rbraunwa 17:43, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

She's most commonly known now for Suzy Chapstick, but back in the seventies she gained both notoriety and popularity for extolling the virtues of athletes (including herself) having sex before their events, in defiance of the long-standing "rule". Thanx also for the laughs at the "biographical" web-site. I had to double-check to be sure in wasn't an Onion parody!

Most biographical information about Chaffee comes from the same autobiographical source and perpetuated by means of 'cut-and-paste'. No one bothers to check. Chaffee was not the top-ranked U.S. skier at any time. Going in to the '68 Olympics, Kiki Cutter was the top-ranked skier for women; Bill Kidd for men, followed by Suzy's brother Rick Chaffee. Some of the top U.S. skiers were Wendy Allen, Rosi Fortuna, Penny McCoy, the Nagels, the Cochrans, Spider Sabitch and others. Chaffee finished a disappointing 28th in the Grenoble Olympic qualifiers, blaming the wax technician. Suzy never medaled in ski racing; her personal best was 5th.

The distinction of "3-time World Champion" in years 1971 to 1973 is dubious. There is no evidence of a World Championship in Freestyle prior to 1986. Freestyle was officially recognized in 1979, had a World Cup circuit in 1980 and the first World Championships took place in 1986 in Tignes, France. There was, however, a first National Championship of Exhibition Skiing in 1971, held in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Chaffee was the only woman entered. First prize was a Corvette, won by Herman Goeller. Famous cool dude Wayne Wong was 3rd. Perhaps there was a default women's championship title for Chaffee. But that would be 'National Champion', not "World". Oddly, she didn't compete in the ski ballet discipline, although that's what she's known for.

She was indeed inducted into the United States National Ski Hall of Fame in 1988, but there are no categories of recognition. The nomination categories that she lays claim to (athlete, ski sport builder and inspirational) are specific to the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame, to which she has not been named.

She is not listed as a council member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, under any president. Perhaps she was involved as one of many "special advisors".

Native Voices Foundation's stated mission is "To create better understanding and joyful unity through sports to help heal Mother Earth for our children" [emphasis mine] At first glance, the organization's central theme appears to be skiing and Native Americans. On deeper inspection, it reveals itself to be a mechanism for financial support for Chaffee's various neo-indigenous spiritual journeys, personal activities, and activist causes. None of which are American Indian, although they appear to be.

It might be said that she's had the most lucrative career as a celebrity skier and the most fame generated as an Olympian, relative to the amount of time invested in competition and actual performance. She's gotten a heck of a lot of mileage out of 28th place.

Ref: International Ski Federation, New England Ski Museum, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (www.fitness.gov) Angallkuk