Phil Mahre 4059272 223959707 2008-07-06T18:27:05Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{MedalTop}} {{MedalSport | Men’s [[Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics|Alpine Skiing]]}} {{MedalGold | [[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]] | Slalom}} {{MedalSilver| [[1980 Winter Olympics|1980 Lake Placid]] | Slalom}} {{MedalWorldChampionships}} {{MedalGold|[[Alpine World Ski Championships 1980|1980 Lake Placid]]| Combined}} {{MedalSilver|[[Alpine World Ski Championships 1980|1980 Lake Placid]]|Slalom}} {{MedalBottom}} '''Philip Mahre''' (born [[May 10]], [[1957]] in [[Yakima, Washington]]) is a retired [[United States|American]] [[Alpine skiing|alpine ski racer]], widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of all time. His total of 27 [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] race wins remains number two all-time among American skiers, behind [[Bode Miller]]. Phil and his twin brother [[Steve Mahre|Steve]] (four minutes younger) were both world class ski racers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite their very similar appearance and according to the delivering physician, they are [[fraternal twins|fraternal]] rather than [[identical twins]]. Phil, Steve, and their seven siblings literally grew up at a [[ski area]]; in 1964, their father Dave became the mountain manager for the [[White Pass Ski Area]], 50 miles west of [[Yakima, Washington| Yakima]], where they moved into a home near the base of the lifts. ==Career== ===Early years=== By the age of 12 years old, the Mahre twins future was so promising that ski manufacturers sent them free skis, and the next year [[Rossignol]] tried to sign them to a career-long contract to use their skis, which their father declined. Eventually they would use skis made by an American company, [[K2 Sports|K2]], throughout their career. K2 was located on [[Vashon Island, Washington|Vashon Island]], a few hours northwest of White Pass, and the Mahres would work extensively with the company throughout their careers, developing custom race skis ideally suited to their needs. ===U.S. Ski Team=== Phil Mahre earned a spot on the [[United States Ski Team|U.S. Ski Team]] in early 1973 at age 15. He was selected to the "A' team following the 1975 season and competed at the [[Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics|1976 Winter Olympics]] in [[Innsbruck]], [[Austria]], taking fifth in the [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]] at age 18. He finished the [[1976 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1976]] [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] season in 14th place in the overall standings. He won his first [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] race the next season, a [[giant slalom]] at [[Val d'Isère]], [[France]] in December 1976. He followed it up with a slalom win in March at [[Sun Valley, Idaho]], defeating the man who would become his fiercest rival, the legendary [[Sweden|Swede]] [[Ingemar Stenmark]], with brother [[Steve Mahre|Steve]] taking third. Phil would finish ninth in the overall standings for [[1977 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1977]]. The following season would establish Phil Mahre as one of the best ski racers in the world. In [[1978 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1978]] he placed second in the overall standings, followed by third in [[1979 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1979]]. At the [[Alpine skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics|1980 Winter Olympics]] in [[Lake Placid, New York|Lake Placid]], he took the silver in the slalom behind Stenmark, along with the unofficial Olympic [[Alpine skiing combined|combined]] title (official as a concurrent [[FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|World Championship]] title). He would once again finish third in the overall World Cup standings for [[1980 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1980]], while winning the first of four consecutive discipline titles in the combined. ===World Cup Overall Champion (1981-83)=== Phil's career reached its zenith over the next three seasons. He won the most prestigious title in [[alpine skiing]], the overall [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] title, three consecutive years from [[1981 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1981]]-[[1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|83]]. He narrowly edged [[Ingemar Stenmark]], who had previously won three consecutive overall titles from [[1976 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1976]]-[[1978 Alpine Skiing World Cup|78]], by only 6 points to capture his first title in 1981. Mahre's finest year was [[1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982]] when he took the event titles in the [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]] and [[Slalom skiing|slalom]], as well as winning the overall title. Mahre had eight wins and 20 podium finishes, and his 309 points were well ahead of Stenmark's 211. Twin brother [[Steve Mahre|Steve]] finished third overall at 183 points, and also won the [[1982 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships|World Championship]] in the [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]] at Schladming. In 1983 Phil would once again beat Stenmark by a large margin for the overall title, along with taking a second straight [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]] title. Only two other Americans have won the [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] overall title: [[Tamara McKinney]] in [[1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1983]] and [[Bode Miller]] in [[2005 Alpine Skiing World Cup|2005]]. When McKinney won the women's title in 1983, it marked the only year that both World Cup overall titles have been won by Americans. ===1984 Olympics=== At the [[Alpine skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Winter Olympics]] in [[Sarajevo]], Phil again medaled in the [[Slalom skiing|slalom]], this time taking the gold while [[Steve Mahre|Steve]] won the silver for a Mahre twin 1-2 sweep. Steve had led the first of two runs, skiing flawlessly and building a large half-second lead over Swede [[Jonas Nilsson]] with Phil in third place another two-tenths back. Phil skied a fine second run to grab the lead, then Nilsson skied next and faltered, dropping out of the medals. Steve skied down last needing only a solid run to take the gold, but a series of mistakes dropped him into second place, and so Phil became the Olympic champion. Meanwhile, unknown to the racers, Phil's wife Holly had given birth to a son an hour before the race started. Phil did not find out about it until a TV interview after the race. The Mahres won two of the five alpine skiing medals taken by Americans, all from the [[Pacific Northwest|Northwest]]. [[Portland, Oregon|Portland's]] [[Bill Johnson (skier)|Bill Johnson]] ([[downhill]]) and [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle's]] [[Debbie Armstrong]] ([[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]]) also won gold, and [[Christin Cooper]] of [[Sun Valley, Idaho|Sun Valley]] took the silver behind Armstrong for an American 1-2 finish in the women's [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]]. The Mahre twins raced a limited [[Alpine skiing World Cup|World Cup]] schedule during the [[1984 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1984]] season, and retired from the circuit in March at age 26. Phil ended his career with 27 World Cup race victories, at the time second only to Stenmark's 79 wins among men's racers (he would end his career in [[1989 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1989]] with 86 wins), while Steve finished with 9 wins. ===Post-retirement=== In 1985, Phil and his brother released their book ''No Hill Too Fast'', which chronicles their childhood and World Cup careers, and includes a series of instructional sections titled "How to Ski the Mahre Way". That same year the twins established the [http://mahretrainingcenter.com/ Mahre Training Center] in [[Deer Valley]], [[Utah]], and continue to run it to this day. The twins attended the Bob Boundarant School of Driving in the fall of 1988 and began competing in [[auto racing]]. They are currently racing in the Grand American Road Racing Association Koni Challenge series, in the Grand Sport class. ==Comeback== In 2006, at the tender age of 49, Phil Mahre decided it was time to come out of retirement and make another run at qualifying for the U.S. Nationals by the age of 50.<ref>{{cite web | title = A New Hill to Descend: Mahre Returns With Big Goal | publisher = The New York Times | date = [[January 15]], [[2007]] | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/sports/othersports/15mahre.html?ex=1326517200&en=5c7cbb91c0a1fdec&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | accessdate = 2007-03-15 }}</ref> ==World Cup victories== {| |-valign=top | ===Season titles=== {|class="wikitable" !Season !Discipline |- |[[1980 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1980]]||Combined |- |[[1981 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1981]]||'''Overall |- |[[1981 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1981]]||Combined |- |[[1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982]]||'''Overall |- |[[1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982]]||Slalom |- |[[1982 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1982]]||Combined |- |[[1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1983]]||'''Overall |- |[[1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1983]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1983 Alpine Skiing World Cup|1983]]||Combined |} | width=50|&nbsp; | ===Individual victories=== 27 total wins: 7 [[Giant Slalom skiing|giant slalom]], 9 [[Slalom skiing|slalom]], 11 [[Alpine skiing combined|combined]] {|class="wikitable" !Date !Location !Race |- |[[1976-12-10]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Val d'Isère]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1977-03-05]] ||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Sun Valley, Idaho|Sun Valley]]||Slalom |- |[[1978-02-12]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Chamonix]]||Slalom mac |- |[[1978-03-03]] ||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Stratton Mountain (Vermont)|Stratton Mountain]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1979-01-15]] ||{{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Crans-Montana]]||Combined |- |[[1979-02-05]] ||{{flagicon|Czechoslovakia}} [[Jasná]]||Slalom |- |[[1979-12-08]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Val d'Isère]]||Combined |- |[[1981-01-10]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Morzine]]||Combined |- |[[1981-01-17]] ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Oberstaufen]]||Combined |- |[[1981-02-01]] ||{{flagicon|Austria}} [[St. Anton]]||Combined |- |[[1981-02-15]] ||{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Åre]]||Slalom |- |[[1981-03-07]] ||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1981-03-15]] ||{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Furano]]||Slalom |- |[[1981-12-08]] ||{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Aprica]]||Combined |- |[[1981-12-09]] ||{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Madonna di Campiglio]]||Slalom |- |[[1981-12-13]] ||{{flagicon|Italy}} Madonna di Campiglio||Combined |- |[[1982-01-15]] ||{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Bad Wiessee]]||Combined |- |[[1982-01-24]] ||{{flagicon|SUI}} [[Wengen]]||Slalom |- |[[1982-03-19]] ||{{flagicon|Yugoslavia}} [[Kranjska Gora]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1982-03-26]] ||{{flagicon|Czechoslovakia}} [[Jasná]] ||Slalom |- |[[1982-03-14]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Montgenèvre]] ||Slalom |- |[[1983-01-23]] || {{flagicon|Austria}} [[Kitzbühel]] ||Combined |- |[[1983-02-11]] ||{{flagicon|France}} [[Markstein]] ||Combined |- |[[1983-02-06]]|| {{flagicon|Austria}} [[St. Anton]] ||Combined |- |[[1983-03-07]] ||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]]||Giant Slalom |- |[[1983-03-08]] ||{{flagicon|USA}} [[Vail, Colorado|Vail]] ||Giant Slalom |- |[[1983-03-19]] ||{{flagicon|Japan}} [[Furano]] ||Giant Slalom |} |} ==References== {{reflist}} * {{cite book | last = Mahre | first = Phil and Steve | coauthors = with John Fry | title = No Hill Too Fast | publisher = [[Simon and Schuster]] | date = 1985 | isbn = 0-671-55706-8 }} == External links == * [http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_571.htm U.S. Olympic Team.com] - biography for Phil Mahre * {{FIS|S=AL|ID=36981}} * [http://www.ski-db.com/db/profiles/mhrph.asp Ski-db.com] - Phil Mahre - results * [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923375,00.html TIME.com] - "For Purple Mountains' Majesty" - 21-Mar-1983 * [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954103-1,00.html TIME.com] - "Their Success Is All in the Family" - 30-Jan-1984 * [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/olympics/258623_wolyphil09.html Seattle Post-Intelligencer] - "Where are they now?: Phil Mahre" - 09-Feb-2006 * [http://www.washingtonsportshalloffame.com/skiing.htm Washington Sports Hall of Fame] - Phil Mahre * [http://www.bizazzmedia.com/mahre] - Phil Mahre talks about his comeback. {{Footer Olympic Champions Slalom Men}} {{Footer World Cup Champions Men}} {{Footer World Champions Combined Men}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahre, Philip}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American alpine skiers]] [[Category:Winter Olympics medalists]] [[Category:Alpine skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics]] [[Category:Alpine skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics]] [[Category:Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics]] [[Category:Olympic alpine skiers of the United States]] [[Category:People from Yakima, Washington]] [[Category:Skiers]] [[de:Phil Mahre]] [[es:Philip Mahre]] [[fr:Phil Mahre]] [[it:Phil Mahre]] [[nl:Phil Mahre]] [[ja:フィリップ・メーア]] [[no:Phil Mahre]] [[pl:Phil Mahre]] [[ru:Маре, Фил]] [[fi:Phil Mahre]] [[sv:Phil Mahre]]