🎿0️⃣1️⃣6️⃣ Donna Weinbrecht
Donna Weinbrecht at the 1992 Olympics. Photo: Donna Weinbrecht
Meet Donna Weinbrecht, the three-time Olympian and five-time World Cup Championship titan who won the historic first gold medal in freestyle moguls at the 1992 Albertville Games.
Born April 23, 1965, the West Milford, New Jersey native grew up ice skating, her first love, but became a convert to skiing once her family was introduced to the sport by close friends. Weinbrecht began training more earnestly in high school; as a freshman she co-founded her school’s first alpine ski team in 1981, and although she experimented with the discipline’s different styles, quickly found her calling in the extremeness of freestyle. She continued to hone her craft at Killington, the Vermont ski resort where her family had a second homebase, particularly after high school as she pursued ever-more-elite competition. Weinbrecht joined the FIS World Cup tour in 1988, the year that freestyle moguls skiing exhibited at the Olympics, yet another step in a legendary Cinderella career that helped define the sport.
Donna’s Story
Traveling on the World Cup tour was (and remains) defined by living out of suitcases as racers flit from one snow-peaked alpine resort to another. But for Weinbrecht, France always felt like a second home, especially Tignes, one of the circuit’s frequent stops and food was a particular portal into the local culture.
“You get into Tignes and all of a sudden it smells like cheese everywhere,” she said of the cultural cues she learned about as part of her skiing career. She and her teammates often lodged in inns with kitchenettes so that they could save money by cooking, an experience that offered hidden opportunities.
“You’re immersed, going to the grocery store, shopping for yourself, learning all the pleasantries. I believe they really loved the fact that you are making an effort.”
Her French counterparts were very knowledgeable about American culture, thanks to U.S. movies and music. Future Olympic gold medalist Edgar Grospiron sang the Ritchie Valens song, “Oh Donna,”to Weinbrecht at one of their races in Breckinridge, a song featured in the 1987 movie “La Bamba” about the singer’s short life.
She bonded with French counterparts who, like her, embraced new forms of extreme skiing, and struck up a close friendship with her on-piste competitor Raphaelle Monod.
“When you’re touring, as much as your freestyle team becomes a family away from home, the whole tour becomes your family, I think because there were no medals on the line at first. So the freestyle tour was like a whole unit, which was incredible.”
The Sports Diplomacy Connection
Weinbrecht (second from right) and Kristi Yamaguchi (center) before the 1992 Opening Ceremony parade. Photo: Donna Weinbrecht.
Weinbrecht engaged in informal sports diplomacy through people-to-people cultural exchanges on the World Cup tour, but also served as a formal sports diplomat in representing the United States at the Olympic Games.
The 1992 Albertville Games, helmed by French ski champion Jean-Claude Killey, were the third time that the Winter Olympics were staged in France (1924 Chamonix; 1968 Grenoble). For Weinbrecht, it was fortuitous as the moguls course was situated at Tignes. “That was such a spot for us that I felt at home,” she said.
Catch Weinbrecht’s gold medal winning ski in the first seconds
She was enchanted by the Opening Ceremony’s air ballet sequence and was able to take in much from the overall experience. Weinbrecht rolled into the Olympics having won six back-to-back World Cup races, which gave her confidence. But she wasn’t immune to worry and had a sleepless night before her finals with event conditions preoccupying her pre-dawn thoughts.
“As a mogul skier, you don’t want the quick turnaround of soft snow freezing at night. But it did, it was epic…the surface got really rock hard underneath.”
Despite the conditions, the following morning, February 13, Weinbrecht launched out of the gate, the Ramones’ “Rock ‘n Roll High School” blaring in the background, for a run that earned the first women’s freestyle moguls gold medal.
Weinbrecht after the 1992 podium ceremony. Photo: Donna Weinbrecht
“It was huge to bring the first gold medal home,” she said. It was also a big immense relief.
“Of course you’re happy, but it was also like a weight was taken off of your shoulders. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions. I feel very happy to experience the Olympics where you can have those really human moments.”
Weinbrecht continued to carve out a record-winning career. She competed at the 1994 and 1998 Olympics, won the FIS World Championship silver medal in 1997 (she won silver in 1989 and gold in 1991), and claimed the World Cup season title in 1992, 1994, and 1996, adding to her 1990 and 1991 season victories. The author of 46 individual World Cup first-place finishes and seven U.S. Championships, Weinbrecht was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 2004.
Mapping the Connection
From Milford, New Jersey to Albertville, France
Further Reading/Resources
[E] Interview with the author, February 14, 2022.
[E] “West Milford’s Donna Weinbrecht made Olympic history in 1992,” West Milford Messenger, February 9, 2022.
[E] Lindsay Sarah Krasnoff, “The 1992 Winter Olympics: When Women Ruled the Games,” VICE Sports, February 7, 2018.
[E] Filip Bondy, “Skiing: Albertville Profile; Spin Control at a Very High Speed,” New York Times, December 11, 1991.
How to Cite This Entry
Krasnoff, Lindsay Sarah “Voices: Donna Weinbrecht,” FranceAndUS, https://www.franceussports.com/voices/016-donna-weinbrecht. (date of consultation).