Sarah Schleper (born February 19, 1979, in

Glenwood Springs Glenwood Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,963 at the 2020 United States Census. Glenwood Springs is located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

), also known as Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola, is former American, now Mexican

alpine skier 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 fo ...

with dual Mexican citizenship via her marriage to a Mexican citizen, whose career started in 1995.

Personal life

Her father is Buzz Schleper, who owns a ski shop in

Vail, Colorado Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the num ...

. She is married to Mexican Federico Gaxiola and acquired Mexican citizenship in April 2014. She is now a dual citizen and lives in Vail, and Los Cabos, Mexico.

Career

Her lone World Cup victory was at a slalom event in Switzerland in 2005. Her best finish at the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). History The inaugural world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annual ...

was seventh in the slalom event at Santa Caterina (near

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellin ...

) in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

. Schleper also competed in four

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) 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 h ...

for USA, earning her best finish of tenth in the slalom event at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

in 2006. Schleper was named to the US team for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

in late 2009. Schleper announced her retirement shortly before competing in her last world cup slalom on December 29, 2011, in Lienz, Austria. In her career spanning a total of 15 years, she took part in 186 World Cup races and achieved four podium finishes and one victory. As has become traditional—a skier in her retirement race can wear any apparel she desires—Schleper wore a thin brown summer dress, bare-armed and bare-legged, and stopped halfway down the course to pick up her 4-year-old son. She then skied the rest of the course with the boy in her arms, to the enjoyment of the crowd and fellow skiers. Lindsey Vonn gave Schleper a long hug in the finish area, and race organizers presented her with a huge bouquet of roses. After acquiring Mexican citizenship in April 2014, she came out of retirement in June 2014, to represent

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. She raced for Mexico in the women's giant slalom at the

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 were the 43rd FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held from 2–15 February in the United States at Vail / Beaver Creek, Colorado. Athletes from over 70 nations were expected, with a worldwide televi ...

. When she joined the Mexican ski team, she doubled the size of the team, serving alongside Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a long time sole representative for Mexico at the world circuit. Schleper competed for Mexico at the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

. Her Olympic effort is self-funded. She represents one of two athletes for

Alpine Mexico Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine Nationa ...

, the other being

Rodolfo Dickson Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers (born 11 July 1997) is a male Mexican Canadians, Mexican Canadian alpine skier representing Mexico. He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015. Personal ...

. She qualified for the 2018 Olympics, alongside alpinist

, freestyler

Roberto Franco Robert "Robby" Franco (born August 23, 1993) is a Mexican-American freestyle skier. He competed for the United States of America in the 2015 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, and for Mexico in the 2017 championships. He represented Mexic ...

, and cross-country skier

German Madrazo German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

World Cup results

Season standings

Race podiums

*1 win – (1 SL) *4 podiums – (3 SL, 1 GS)

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

*
Sarah's U.S. Olympic Team bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schleper, Sarah 1979 births People from Glenwood Springs, Colorado Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics American female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for the United States Mexican female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Mexico Naturalized citizens of Mexico Living people 21st-century American women