Julie Madelein Josephine Parisien (born August 2, 1971) is a former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She specialized in the technical events of slalom and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

. Parisien was the silver medalist in the slalom at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and competed in three

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, Parisien's mother was born in Australia and her father, an orthopedic surgeon, in Canada. The family moved from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

when Julie was less than a year old. She and her three siblings were raised just outside Auburn, about a mile (1.6 km) from the Lost Valley Ski Area. On skis at age two, she followed her two older brothers and attended the

Burke Mountain Academy Burke Mountain Academy is a full-year private college-preparatory school in the northeastern United States, located in East Burke, Vermont. It educates and trains alpine ski racing athletes on the slopes of adjacent Burke Mountain Ski Area. Ove ...

in northeastern

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. Her siblings Rob (b.1970) and Anne-Lise (b.1972) also competed at the Olympics in alpine skiing. The eldest brother, Jean Paul (1968–92), captained the

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

ski team and coached at Burke Mountain Academy. He was killed in a

hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the criminal act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there ma ...

highway accident in December 1992, forced off the road by a

drunk driver Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

. Parisien had won her third World Cup race in late November 1992 at Park City, and in the first two slalom events in January

she placed fourth and sixth. She then won the silver medal in the slalom at the

in Japan. But the loss of her brother affected her and she struggled in the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

season. After a disappointing

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, Parisien left the U.S. Ski Team and competed on the women's pro tour in North America. She was rookie of the year in 1995 and finished second in the standings. Parisien dominated the pro tour next two years, then qualified for the 1998 Olympics, and finished 13th in the slalom at Nagano. At her first Olympics in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

in France, she held a slim lead after the first run in the slalom but finished fourth, missing a medal by 0.05 seconds. After summer glacier training with the U.S. Ski Team in Europe, Parisien decided it was time to retire from competition in the fall She was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the

National Ski Hall of Fame The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Ishpeming, Michigan, the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States. Located in the state's Upper Peninsula, the building includes the hall of fame and museum, as well as a ...

After finishing her career in competitive skiing, Parisien completed her degree in nursing. She graduated from the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

in 2003. As of 2023, Parisien resides in

Kalispell Kalispell (, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: Kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam) is a city in Montana and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at 24,558. Among cities in Montana, ...

, Montana where she works in

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

World Cup results

Season standings

Race podiums

* 3 wins - (2 SL, 1 GS) * 4 podiums - (3 SL, 1 GS); 15 top tens (9 SL, 6 GS, 1 SG)

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

* * *
U.S. Ski Hall of Fame
– Julie Parisien – inducted 2006 *
Ski Museum of Maine Hall of Fame
– Julie Parisien – inducted 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Parisien, Julie 1971 births Living people American female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for the United States Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Skiers from Montreal 20th-century American sportswomen