Alpine champ Saubert leaves a legacy of dedication

By Published On: May 17th, 2007Comments Off on Alpine champ Saubert leaves a legacy of dedication

The United States Ski and Snowboard Association launched an ambitious alumni campaign this season with the rallying cry “We want you!” People such as Jean Saubert offer prime motivation.
    Saubert, double alpine medalist at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, died Tuesday in Bigfork, Montana, at age 65. She was a gem of the USSA alumni world, as much so for her off-hill accomplishments as her on-hill prowess.
    “She was a fantastic competitor, really strong willed, and great on game day,” said Bill Marolt, USSA president and a teammate of Saubert’s on the 1964 Olympic team. “She was great on competition day, and like all great competitors, she had a tremendous amount of pride in what she did.”
THE UNITED STATES
Ski and Snowboard Association launched an ambitious alumni campaign this season with the rallying cry “We want you!” People such as Jean Saubert offer prime motivation.
    Saubert, double alpine medalist at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, died Tuesday in Bigfork, Montana, at age 65. She was a gem of the USSA alumni world, as much so for her off-hill accomplishments as her on-hill prowess.
    “She was a fantastic competitor, really strong willed, and great on game day,” said Bill Marolt, USSA president and a teammate of Saubert’s on the 1964 Olympic team. “She was great on competition day, and like all great competitors, she had a tremendous amount of pride in what she did.”
    Saubert shared the silver medal in giant slalom and nabbed bronze in slalom at those 1964 Innsbruck Games.
    “Her strength and character of will stand out,” Marolt said. “When she won the two Olympic medals, that set her in a category not many people have accomplished. I really remember that and the effort and tenacity it took.”
    Former U.S. Ski Team coach Bob Beattie spoke about the impact Saubert had in and out of the competition arena.
    “She was a dynamite competitor. I always think of her as a ski racer, but also I always think of her as a competitor,” Beattie said.
    “She wasn’t a major leader vocally, but she was a hell of a leader as far as what she could accomplish. She was a strong personality. You could see it when you were around her for just a couple of hours.
    “That as much as anything led to her successes. She was always a good ski racer. Everybody knew, even when she was a youngster, that she was going to be a good ski racer. But she led by example.”
    “She worked really hard, she trained really hard,” Marolt said. “She was an ideal athlete, and on top of that, she was a good person. She was fun to be around, she had a good personality, liked to enjoy life, liked to smile.”
    Marolt said he saw those traits as Saubert’s teammate, but even more so when Saubert returned for alumni events such as Return of the Champions, where she fit right in with other alumni as well as current ski team members.
    “It’s a big loss,” Marolt said. “It’s one of those difficult times in life when someone you’ve know well and had great fondness for passes on.”
    Saubert was diagnosed with breast cancer six months before the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. She was determined enough, though, to serve as a volunteer for those Games, and she carried the Olympic torch through Logan, Utah, the day before the 2002 Opening Ceremony.
    “I think that kind of represents her spirit, her positive attitude and her willingness to persevere,” Marolt said.
    “We talk a lot in this organization about the people who have gone before and those people who in some way have been part of the foundation and they built the foundation which the organization goes on.”
    “We’ve stepped up that [alumni] effort the past few months. As they retire and step away from the sport, we want to keep that bond strong. They’re in a different part of their lives, but they’re still part of what the ski team is.
    “People like Jean set a high standard, a high standard in every respect that kids should look up to and remember … kids, athletes, coaches, parents, donors, sponsors. These are special individuals and they should be recognized and remembered.”
    Saubert grew up skiing in the Cascades. She was raised in Cascadia, Oregon, and her parents — her dad, a forest ranger, was a superb skier — took her to watch the 1960 alpine events at the Squaw Valley Olympics. Four years later she became the first Oregonian to win more than one Olympic Winter Games medal.
    “She was not a noisy person but her personality was just as strong as she was a ski racer,” Beattie said. “And she was good on both ways, week after week as a ski racer. It was amazing. The other ski racers on the team really looked up to her.”
    Saubert was a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962 to 1966. She was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1976. After retiring from racing, she was a ski instructor at Vail, Colorado, and in Salt Lake City before earning a master’s degree from Brigham Young University and teaching physical education. She also earned an undergraduate degree from Oregon State University and taught at the elementary school level for 32 years.
    Saubert remained competitive athletically, playing over-30 soccer and serving as president of a women's golf association in the Salt Lake area.
    According to Beattie, Saubert's family members had believed she had beaten cancer, but she suffered a relapse in recent months. Beattie said many of Saubert's friends were able to visit her in Montana in her last weeks.
    Saubert’s podium legacy — including six U.S. championships — is superb, but Beattie said she leaves a more important impression for the ski racing stars of today and tomorrow.
    “Most important of all is that as a junior ski racer, they have a dedication to the sport and they have a real feeling for the importance of it and what it means to them,” Beattie said. “Jean really wanted to be a great ski racer and pay the price to get there. She was so dedicated to what she wanted to be, as she was in all aspects of her life. … Younger kids can really learn something from a person like that.”

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