James Frederic Heuga (September 22, 1943 – February 8, 2010) was an American alpine ski racer who became one of the first two members of the U.S. men's team to win an Olympic medal in his sport. After

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

prematurely ended his athletic career, he became an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease. Born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Heuga grew up in Squaw Valley,

, where his father Pascal (1909–2011), a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

immigrant from southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, opened a grocery store in 1945 in Lake Forest and later operated the resort's cable car (1968–1988). Heuga was on skis at age two and began to compete in the sport at age five; he appeared in a Warren Miller ski film at age nine. Heuga was named to the U.S. Ski Team in 1958, becoming the youngest man ever to make the squad as a fifteen-year-old. He went to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, where he was coached by Bob Beattie. A three-time letterman, Heuga won the NCAA championship in the slalom in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. With Beattie also leading the U.S. Ski Team, Heuga, along with fellow Buffaloes Buddy Werner and

Bill Marolt William Charles Marolt (born September 1, 1943) is a retired United States Ski Team, American Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer, coach, and sports administrator. Originally from Aspen, Colorado, Marolt made the United States at the 1964 Winter Olym ...

(and future CU alumnus Billy Kidd), formed the squad's nucleus for the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

. Both Kidd and Heuga became the first American men to win Olympic medals in Alpine skiing, respectively capturing

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in the slalom. * finished sixth in the slalom and fourth in the combined at the 1966 World Championships at Portillo,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

* 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

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, which derailed his ski racing career at age 27. * founded Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, formerly The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis. * the first NASTAR National Pacesetter (1968) Heuga died on February 8, 2010, at Boulder Community Hospital in

, due to complications from multiple sclerosis, exactly 46 years after he won his Olympic medal. The gold medalist in that slalom race, Pepi Stiegler, was also diagnosed with MS in 1993, as was Egon Zimmermann, the gold medalist in the downhill.

World Championship results

From

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

through

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

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 (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results

References

External links

* *
mscando.org
– Can Do Multiple Sclerosis
University of Colorado Athletics
– Hall of Fame – Jimmie Heuga *

– Jimmie Heuga

– cover – February 5, 1968 – Olympics preview – Billy Kidd & Jimmie Heuga

– February 17, 1964 article
"Skiing History"
Jimmie Heuga obituary with eulogy by Billy Kidd
"Skiing Heritage"
Biography of Jimmie Heuga by Seth Masia {{DEFAULTSORT:Heuga, James 1943 births 2010 deaths American male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 1964 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1968 Winter Olympics American people of Basque descent Neurological disease deaths in Colorado Deaths from multiple sclerosis People with multiple sclerosis Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in alpine skiing University of Colorado Boulder alumni Sportspeople from San Francisco Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Colorado Buffaloes athletes Sportspeople from Olympic Valley, California 20th-century American sportsmen Sigma Alpha Epsilon members