Nikki Stone

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Nikki Stone Freestyle skiing
nation United StatesUnited States United States
birthday 4th February 1971 (age 49)
place of birth Princeton , USA
size 173 cm
Weight 58 kg
job Entrepreneur
Career
discipline Aerials
status resigned
End of career March 1999
Medal table
Olympic games 1 × gold 0 × silver 0 × bronze
World championships 1 × gold 0 × silver 1 × bronze
Olympic rings winter Olympics
gold Nagano 1998 Aerials
FIS Freestyle Skiing World Championships
gold La Clusaz 1995 Aerials
bronze Meiringen-Hasliberg 1999 Aerials
Placements in the Freestyle Skiing World Cup
 Debut in the World Cup January 25, 1992
 World Cup victories 11
 Overall World Cup 1. (1997/98)
 Aerials World Cup 1. (1994/95, 1997/98)
 Podium placements 1. 2. 3.
 Aerials 11 15th 6th
 

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

World championships

World Cup ratings

season total Aerials
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
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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nikki Stone. Sports Reference LLC, accessed February 2, 2020 .
  2. ↑ 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).
  3. ↑ Stephen Wilson: US Takes Gold in Both Aerials. The Washington Post , February 18, 1998, accessed February 2, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Nikki Stone - Hall of Fame Class of 2002. US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, accessed February 2, 2020 .
personal data
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