James Frederic "Jimmie" Heuga was an American alpine ski racer who became one of the first two members of the United States. men"s team to win an Olympic medal in his sport.
Background
Born in San Francisco, California, Heuga grew up in Squaw Valley, California, where his father Pascal (1909–2011), a Basque immigrant from southern France, opened a grocery store in 1945 in Lake Forest and later operated the resort"s cable car (1968–1988).
Career
After multiple sclerosis prematurely ended his athletic career, he became an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease. Jimmie Heuga was on skis at age two and began to compete in the sport at age 5. He appeared in a Warren Miller ski film at age 9.
Heuga was named to the United States. Ski Team in 1958, becoming the youngest man ever to make the squad as a 15-year-old.
He went to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he met and was coached by Bob Beattie. With Beattie also leading the United States. Ski Team, Heuga, along with fellow Buffaloes Buddy Werner and Bill Marolt (and future University of Colorado alumnus Billy Kidd), formed the squad"s nucleus for the 1964 Winter Olympics. finished sixth in the slalom and fourth in the combined at the 1966 World Championships at Portillo, Chile
joined the pro racing tour following the 1968 Winter Olympics where he was 7th in the slalom and 10th in the giant slalom. was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1970, which derailed his ski racing career at age 27. the first NASTAR National Pacesetter (1968)
The gold medalist in that slalom race, Pepi Stiegler, was also diagnosed with Mississippi in 1993, as was Egon Zimmerman, the gold medalist in the downhill.
From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing. At the World Championships from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (Dialectics and Humanism, GS, SL).