Sarah

Schleper

EVENT - ALPINE SKIING

HEIGHT 5'4"     WEIGHT 130 lbs

Visit Sarah Schleper's Website

Olympic Experience

• 6-time Olympian;
• Olympic Games Beijing 2022, 35th (Super G - Women), 37th (Giant Slalom - Women)
• Olympic Games Pyeongchang 2018, (Giant Slalom - Women), 41th (Super G - Women)
• Olympic Games Vancouver 2010, 14th (Giant Slalom - Women), 16th (Slalom - Women)
• Olympic Games Turin 2006, (Giant Slalom - Women), 10th (Slalom - Women)
• Olympic Games Salt Lake City 2002, (Slalom - Women), 21th (Giant Slalom - Women)
• Olympic Games Nagano 1998, (Giant Slalom - Women), 22th (Slalom - Women)

Career Highlights

• Worlds: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009
• 2009: First races since March of 2006
• First World Cup win to close 2005 (SL, Lenzerheide)
• Fourth U.S. slalom crown in 2005
• 2nd in SL at 2004 World Cup Finals
• 1997 Juniors Worlds SL silver medal

Quick Facts

Years on the Team: 13
Club: Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
School: Vail Valley Academy

Colorado native Sarah Schleper started with Ski Club Vail at age 11, and just five years later, made her World Cup debut - in Vail. In between, she won five Junior Olympics gold medals and was the Whistler Cup slalom champ in 1994. A three-time Olympian, she took a Junior Worlds silver medal, won on the World Cup and been a four-time U.S. slalom champion.

After missing the 2007 season to rehab from ACL surgery, Schleper spent 2008 welcoming her son, Lasse (born Jan. 30, 2008), into the world with husband Federico Gaxiola. Now the hardest working mommy on snow, she rocketed back into incredible skiing shape and scored points at three World Cup races, including a slalom 13th at the Aspen Winternational, and made her fourth World Championships Team. Schleper says she wasn't at the top of her game when she came in 10th in slalom at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and knows she can best that performance in 2010. "It feels so great to finally be back to racing, two years is a really long time and I still have so much work to do, but I'm excited to be back at it," Schleper said. "It's also so good to be back with the Team. A lot of these girls weren't racing when I was with the Team but they're all so nice and so talented. It's a really good group to be a part of." Now full-time with family in tow, Team Schleper-Gaxiola lives in Europe during the winter months just outside of Innsbruck, Austria.

FIRST TRACKS

Raised largely by a single dad, a card-carrying "ex-ski bum" who owned his own ski shop in Vail, Schleper's first skis were a gift for her second birthday. At first snow, she immediately began hiking up the hill behind her house. She moved into racing with Ski Club Vail at 11. Five years later, she was in her first World Cup - at home! In between, Schleper won five Junior Olympics titles and was 1995 Junior Skier of the Year for Ski Racing; she also was Whistler Cup slalom champ in 1994. In 1997, Schleper was slalom silver medalist at Juniors Worlds. A broken leg, suffered in a crash in France as the season got underway, sidelined her from racing at the 1999 Worlds in her hometown.

I AM

All about cross training: surfing, yoga, mountain biking, skiing, waterskiing...Life plan is to start an eco-farm in Oaxaca, Mexico and live off the land...Supports Locks of Love and the Jimmie Heuga Center...Into writing...Favorite movie is "Almost Famous"....Two dogs: Legend and Mojo...Dad is my hero, he taught me practice makes perfect and how to be a gracious winner...Brother, Johnny, plays lead guitar in the band M.T.H.D.S...Spends a few weeks each summer at the family lake house in Minnesota for "cross training," including trampoline and water skiing...Son, Lasse, will likely be fluent in Spanish, German and English...Suitcase includes: diapers, wipees, toys, blankets car seats. "I have to cut way back on the personal amenities. I'm also toting along my husband to take care of Lasse and I."

Image by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

World Championships Experience

• Most recent: 2023 – (Giant Slalom - Women)
• Years of participation: Giant Slalom - Women 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023; Super G - Women 2017, 2019; Downhill - Women 2017; Slalom - Women 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017; Super Combined - Women 2017; Team - Mixed 2005, 2011
• Top finish: – 2001 (Giant Slalom - Women), 2001 (Slalom - Women), 2003 (Giant Slalom - Women), 2003 (Slalom - Women), 2011 (Slalom - Women), 2015 (Slalom - Women), 2017 (Slalom - Women), 2023 (Giant Slalom - Women)