Gladys Maxine "Skeeter" Werner Walker (December 22, 1933 – July 20, 2001) was an

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 for ...

and

Olympian Olympian or Olympians may refer to: Religion * Twelve Olympians, the principal gods and goddesses in ancient Greek religion * Olympian spirits, spirits mentioned in books of ceremonial magic Fiction * ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'', fiction ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Biography

Born and raised in Steamboat Springs,

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 ...

, "Skeeter" Werner learned to ski and race at

Howelsen Hill Howelsen Hill Ski Area is a small ski area located on Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It is not a typical alpine ski area, as it includes a series of ski jumps, the largest with HS127. History The ski area has produced 89 Olympi ...

. An alternate for the 1952 Olympic team, she was youngest member of the U.S. Ski Team at the 1954 World Championships and the U.S. Olympic team in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

. Werner retired from competition in 1958, and modeled and designed fashions in New York. She returned to Steamboat Springs in 1962 and opened a ski shop with her younger brothers Wallace ("

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) * Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Ame ...

" 1936–64) and Loris ("Bugs" b.1941), also Olympians. She later founded the Steamboat Ski School. In 1966, one of her ski school students was

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played profess ...

, a famous

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

(and winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1948). They eloped in 1969 to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

and lived together in Steamboat Springs for the rest of their lives. He died in 1998 at age 71, eight months after a ski accident left him paralyzed. She died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

in July 2001, at age 67.

References

External links

*
Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame
– Gladys Werner-Walker

– Gladys "Skeeter" Werner Walker *
Sports Illustrated
' - Skeeter tunes up ''(cover story)'' - November 21, 1955

* 1933 births 2001 deaths American female alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for the United States Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics 20th-century American women {{US-alpine-skiing-bio-stub