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1971-
Two-time world champion in downhill; gold medalist in Super G

Street helped put women's skiing on the map.  Nathan Bilow

Hailing from, fittingly, a town called Triumph, Picabo Street was the most dominant female alpine skier of the 1990s. She got her start on the slopes as a youngster in her native Idaho when her elementary school began a weekly ski program. As a teen, Street was named to the U.S. Ski Team and in 1988, at age 16, she won the national junior downhill and Super G titles. Despite her athletic promise, Street nearly flamed out in 1990 when she was dropped by the national program due to her lack of focus and determination. At 18, with her career at a crossroads, she decided to get in shape and rededicate herself to her sport. Street rejoined Team USA in 1991 and two years later won a silver medal at the world alpine ski championships in Morioka, Japan. At the 1994 Lillehammer Games, Street captured the silver medal in the women's downhill and also began to win mainstream celebrity with her engaging personality. Her ascension continued with World Cup championships in the downhill in 1995 and '96 -- but then the roller coaster ride began. In December 1996, while training in Vail, Colo., Street tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in her left knee and was forced to stay off skis for six months. At the 1998 Nagano Games, she made an inspiring comeback to win gold in the Super G, but in March of that same year suffered a horrific fall during the World Cup Finals in Switzerland, breaking her leg and severely injuring her knee. Though Street missed the entire 1999 season, she plans to complete rehabilitation and return to racing in 2001 with designs on competing the following year at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

They said it: "Skiing is the love of my life. I am not ready to give it up. I'm not done as a competitor. I'm not done at trying to bring out the best athlete inside of myself." --Street

-- Richard Deitsch

Athletes were selected by Sports Illustrated For Women, Sports Illustrated and CNN/SI editors, writers and correspondents who considered the athletes' on-field performance and achievements, plus their contributions to women's sports. Because athletic achievement was a key criterion, women whose contributions were made solely in administration and coaching are not included.
 

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