Penelope Theresa "Penny" Pitou (born October 8, 1938) is a former United States Olympic alpine skier, who in 1960 became the first American skier to win a medal in the Olympic downhill event. In 2001, Pitou was inducted into the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Pitou moved with her family from New York to

Center Harbor, New Hampshire Center Harbor is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 1,040. It is situated between Lake Winnipesaukee and Squam Lake. History Center Harbor separated from the town of ...

at the age of three. There she began skiing on a hill in her backyard, later progressing to the nearby Gilford Outing Club and Belknap Mountain (now Gunstock) ski areas. By the age of 15 Penny and her family moved to

Laconia, New Hampshire Laconia ( ) is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap County. Laconia, situated between Lake Winnipesaukee and ...

, where she graduated from Laconia High School in 1956 and attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, where she was a member of the class of 1960. As a freshman at Laconia High in 1953, she ignored the no-girls-rule and tried out for the boys' ski team. "I hid my hair under my hat and asked my friends to call me Tommy," she said. "I made the team and everything went great until I competed in a downhill race at

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent university-preparatory school, college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 330 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the ...

. I crashed in front of a gate-keeper, my hat flew off and my hair came down. It's one of the few times in my life that I was at a loss for words."Joe Sullivan (November 15, 2001
Penny Pitou biography
Union Leader Sports. newhampshire.com. Her ski career continued apace however, and at the age of seventeen she was first selected for the U.S. Olympics Ski Team. Her self-described Olympic mentor, 1952 double-medalist Andrea Mead Lawrence, encouraged Penny to continue working on her skiing after a disappointing performance in the 1956 Games in Italy. Her perseverance paid off in 1960, when Pitou won silver medals for second place in both the Downhill 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 ...

events at the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

in Squaw Valley, California. At the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1958 in Austria, Pitou met the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n alpine skier Egon N. Zimmermann. They married in 1961, had two children, and settled in New Hampshire. The couple divorced in 1968.Egon N. Zimmermann
sports-reference.com Penny Pitou and Barry Goldwater Jr 1964

Pitou appeared as Miss X but not as the mystery guest on "What's My Line". She continues to be active in the ski community, and runs a skiing school and a travel company through which she leads ski groups to various European resorts. She was seen in December 2007 with New York

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in preparation for the New Hampshire primary for the 2008 American presidential election.Jill Zuckman (December 7, 2007
Downhill off agenda for now
Chicago Tribune

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitou, Penny 1938 births Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics American female alpine skiers Living people Skiers from New York (state) People from Center Harbor, New Hampshire Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in alpine skiing Middlebury College alumni 20th-century American sportswomen