Nikki Stone
Nikki Stone ![]() |
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birthday | 4th February 1971 (age 49) | |||||||||||||||
place of birth | Princeton , USA | |||||||||||||||
size | 173 cm | |||||||||||||||
Weight | 58 kg | |||||||||||||||
job | Entrepreneur | |||||||||||||||
Career | ||||||||||||||||
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discipline | Aerials | |||||||||||||||
status | resigned | |||||||||||||||
End of career | March 1999 | |||||||||||||||
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Placements in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup | ||||||||||||||||
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Nicole "Nikki" L. Stone (born February 4, 1971 in Princeton , New Jersey ) is a former American freestyle skier . She specialized in the aerials (jumping) discipline. In this discipline she became world champion in 1995 and Olympic champion in 1998. In addition, she won the overall freestyle World Cup once as well as the discipline classification twice and eleven individual competitions in the World Cup.
biography
Athletic career
Nikki Stone grew up in Park City , Utah and started skiing and gymnastics at the age of three . At the age of six, her parents moved her to Massachusetts , where she competed in state gymnastics. After skiing only as a hobby at first, she discovered freestyle at the age of 16 and initially trained in all three disciplines aerials, moguls and ballet . After graduating from high school from Waterville Valley Academy, she joined the US ski team in 1991 as an aerials specialist.
On January 25, 1992, Stone made her debut in Lake Placid in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup . She won her third competition in Inawashiro and finished ninth in the Aerials discipline with two more podium places at the end of the season. At the world championships in 1993 in Altenmarkt - Zauchensee , she just missed her first medal in fourth place. In the Olympic Games of Lillehammer she came a year later on 13th not get out. After two third final ranks in the Aerials classification, she won the discipline classification for the first time in 1994/95 with four victories of the season. In addition, she secured the gold medal at the World Championships in La Clusaz .
In the summer of 1996, doctors diagnosed Stone with two weakened intervertebral discs and even suggested that she retire. But the 25-year-old continued to train and continued her athletic career. After two winters in which she could not build on previous successes, she celebrated the strongest season of her career in 1997/98. Like three years before, she achieved four World Cup victories, which, in addition to winning the discipline classification, also brought her a victory in the overall Freestyle World Cup. The highlight for her was the Olympic final in Nagano , where she prevailed with 193 out of a possible 200 points from two jumps and won gold. Her first jump, a triple twisting double somersault , was given the highest mark of the day of 98.15. In the following season she only took part in four World Cup competitions, but still finished second in the overall World Cup and in the discipline classification. In March 1999 she won a bronze medal at her last world championships in Meiringen - Hasliberg .
Following the 1998/99 season, Nikki Stone ended her career in competitive sports at the age of 28.
Further career
Nikki Stone graduated from Union College in Schenectady , New York , with a major in Psychology in 1997 . After her sports career, she founded her own company and has since appeared as a motivational speaker at home and abroad, drawing comparisons between successes in skiing and the business world. Stone also works with the United States Olympic Committee and is involved with charitable organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Streets to Sports. She is a board member of Olympic Aid.
She lives in Park City with her husband Michael Spencer and two children.
successes
Olympic games
- Lillehammer 1994 : 13th Aerials
- Nagano 1998 : 1. Aerials
World championships
- Altenmarkt-Zauchensee 1993 : 4. Aerials
- La Clusaz 1995 : 1. Aerials
- Iizuna Kogen 1997 : 10th Aerials
- Meiringen-Hasliberg 1999 : 3rd Aerials
World Cup ratings
season | total | Aerials | ||
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space | Points | space | Points | |
1991/92 | 25th | 5 | 9. | 42 |
1992/93 | 17th | 86 | 3. | 516 |
1993/94 | 15th | 86 | 3. | 688 |
1994/95 | 6th | 97 | 1. | 776 |
1995/96 | 13. | 87 | 4th | 784 |
1996/97 | 18th | 82 | 6th | 660 |
1997/98 | 1. | 98 | 1. | 688 |
1998/99 | 2. | 95 | 2. | 284 |
World Cup victories
Stone achieved 32 podiums in the World Cup, including 11 wins:
date | place | country | discipline |
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March 1, 1992 | Inawashiro | Japan | Aerials |
January 15, 1995 | Breckenridge | United States | Aerials |
January 22, 1995 | Le relay | Canada | Aerials |
February 24, 1995 | Kirchberg | Austria | Aerials |
March 4, 1995 | Lillehammer | Norway | Aerials |
January 20, 1996 | Breckenridge | United States | Aerials |
August 1, 1997 | Mount Buller | Australia | Aerials |
December 12, 1997 | Tignes | France | Aerials |
December 17, 1997 | Piancavallo | Italy | Aerials |
January 25, 1998 | Blackcomb | Canada | Aerials |
January 25, 1999 | Heavenly Valley | United States | Aerials |
More Achievements
- 4 US championship titles (Aerials 1993–1995 and 1998)
Awards
- 1992: World Cup Rookie of the Year
- 2002: Induction into the US Ski and Snowboard Association Hall of Fame
Web links
- Nikki Stone in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
- Nikki Stone in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nikki Stone. Sports Reference LLC, accessed February 2, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d U.S. Ski Hall of Fame Inducts Six - Nikki Stone. In: Skiing Heritage Journal , Vol. 14, No. 3 (September 2002), pp. 46-47 (English).
- ↑ Stephen Wilson: US Takes Gold in Both Aerials. The Washington Post , February 18, 1998, accessed February 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Nikki Stone - Hall of Fame Class of 2002. US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, accessed February 2, 2020 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Stone, Nikki |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Stone, Nicole (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American freestyle skier |
DATE OF BIRTH | 4th February 1971 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Princeton, New Jersey |