Dane Spencer

Last updated
Dane Spencer
Born (1977-12-24) December 24, 1977 (age 45)
Occupation Alpine skier
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Skiing career
Disciplines Giant slalom, super-G
Club Bogus Basin Ski
Education Foundation
World Cup debutNovember 25, 1996
(age 18)
RetiredApril 2010 (age 32)
Olympics
Teams1 - (2002)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams4 - (1997, '99, 2003, '05)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons8 - (2000-06, '08)
Podiums0
Overall titles0
Discipline titles0 - (20th in GS, 2005)

Dane Spencer (born December 24, 1977) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and current assistant coach with the U.S. Ski Team. At the World Cup level, he specialized in the giant slalom.

Contents

Career

Born in Boise, Idaho, Spencer grew up skiing and racing at Bogus Basin. He made the U.S. Ski Team at age 16, and debuted in World Cup competition at age 18 in a giant slalom in Park City. He attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and was a member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic team and finished 16th in the giant slalom, held in Park City. His best finish in international competition was 7th in the GS at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio, Italy.

Injury in 2006

Battling injuries during the 2006 season, he narrowly missed the Olympic team in 2006, and was back in North America in February to tune up for the remainder of the World Cup season in Europe with several events on the Nor-Am Cup circuit. After a pair of super-G races at Apex in British Columbia, he raced in two downhill events at The Big Mountain (now Whitefish Mountain Resort) near Whitefish, Montana. During the second race on February 14, 2006, Spencer crashed after the "Launch Pad" jump and incurred serious injuries. [1] He fractured his neck and pelvis, had massive internal bleeding, and spent nearly a week in an induced coma; [2] [3] he recovered but spent most of 2006 recuperating. [4] [5] The same Ursa Major race course had ended the comeback attempt of Bill Johnson five years earlier, after a violent crash at the "Corkscrew" section left the 1984 Olympic champion significantly impaired by a head injury in 2001. [1] Despite the severe injuries and near paralysis, Spencer progressed well during the summer of 2006 and was placed on the "A" team for the 2007 World Cup season, but did not race again until the following season. [6]

After racing

Following the injury, Spencer did not regain his previous form and struggled for results. He started only a handful of World Cup events and retired from racing following the 2010 season at age 32. Spencer became a coach with the U.S. Ski Team that summer and assisted with the Europa Cup and World Cup teams during the 2011 season. [7] He was named an assistant coach for the U.S. men's World Cup team for the 2012 season, under men's head coach Forest Carey. [8]

Top finishes

World Cup top twenty finishes

SeasonDateLocationDisciplinePlace
2002 5 Jan 2002 Adelboden, Switzerland Giant slalom 10th
2004 22 Nov 2003 Park City, USAGiant slalom13th
21 Dec 2003 Alta Badia, ItalyGiant slalom11th
3 Jan 2004 Flachau, AustriaGiant slalom18th
7 Feb 2004Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom13th
2005 4 Dec 2004 Beaver Creek, USAGiant slalom11th
21 Dec 2004Flachau, AustriaGiant slalom12th
11 Jan 2005Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant slalom17th
2006 3 Dec 2005Beaver Creek, USAGiant slalom12th

2007 U.S. Ski Team - Men's "A" Team

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant slalom</span> Alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline

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 but less than in Super-G.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Maier</span> Austrian alpine skier

Hermann Maier is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals, and three World Championship titles. His 54 World Cup race victories – 24 super-G, 15 downhills, 14 giant slaloms, and 1 combined – rank third on the men's all-time list behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 victories and Marcel Hirscher's 67 victories. As of 2013, he holds the record for the most points in one season by a male alpine skier, with 2000 points from the 2000 season. From 2000–2013 he also held the title of most points in one season by any alpine skier, until Tina Maze scored 2414 points in the 2013 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janica Kostelić</span> Croatian alpine skier

Janica Kostelić is a Croatian former alpine ski racer. She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist. In addition to the Olympics, she won five gold medals at the World Championships. In World Cup competition, she won thirty individual races, three overall titles, three slalom titles, and four combined titles. Kostelic's accomplishments in professional skiing have led some commentators, writers, and fellow ski racers to regard her as the greatest female ski racer of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlies Schild</span> Austrian alpine skier

Marlies Raich is a retired Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. She specializes in the technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom. Schild won four Olympic medals, with silvers in the combined (2006) and slalom and a bronze in slalom (2006). She has seven World Championship medals and has won five World Cup season titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivica Kostelić</span> Croatian alpine skier

Ivica Kostelić is a Croatian former alpine ski racer. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the brother of skiing champion Janica Kostelić. In his career he was coached by his father Ante Kostelić, as well as by Kristian Ghedina and Tomislav Krstičević.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemmy Alcott</span> English alpine skier

Chimene Mary "Chemmy" Crawford-Alcott is an English former World Cup alpine ski racer. She competed in all five disciplines: downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom and combined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Ligety</span> American alpine skier

Theodore Sharp Ligety is a retired American alpine ski racer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and an entrepreneur, having cofounded Shred Optics. Ligety won the combined event at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and the giant slalom race at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He is also a five-time World Cup champion in giant slalom. Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships. He successfully defended his world title in giant slalom in 2013 in Schladming, Austria, where he also won an unexpected gold medal in the super-G and a third gold medal in the super combined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Šárka Strachová</span> Czech alpine skier

Šárka Strachová is a retired Czech World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Benecko, she specializes in the slalom event. Strachová is the first alpine racer representing the Czech Republic to medal at the Winter Olympics and at the World Championships and just the second Czech alpine skier ever to medal in the Olympics.

Erik Schlopy is former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States and specialized in the technical events of giant slalom and slalom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tessa Worley</span> French alpine skier

Tessa Worley is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer and non-commissioned officer. She previously competed in all five alpine disciplines and specialised in giant slalom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Fanara</span> French alpine skier

Thomas Fanara is a former French World Cup alpine ski racer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Weirather</span> Liechtenstein alpine skier

Christina Weirather is a retired Liechtensteiner World Cup alpine ski racer. She won a bronze medal in Super-G for Liechtenstein at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009–10 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup</span>

The 44th World Cup season began on 24 October 2009, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 14 March 2010, at the World Cup finals in Garmisch, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel Hirscher</span> Austrian alpine skier

Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined and occasionally in super G. Winner of a record eight consecutive World Cup titles, Hirscher has also won 11 medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships, seven of them gold, a silver medal in slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two gold medals in the combined and giant slalom at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Due to his record number of overall titles and many years of extreme dominance of both slalom and giant slalom, he is considered by many, including his former rivals Henrik Kristoffersen, Kjetil Jansrud and Alexis Pinturault, to be the best alpine skier in history. He won a total of 67 World Cup races, ranking second on the male all-time list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Weibrecht</span> American alpine skier

Andrew Weibrecht is a World Cup alpine ski racer and two-time Olympic medalist from the United States.

Tommy Ford is a World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. He specializes in giant slalom and super-G; his best World Cup result to date is a first-place finish at a giant slalom event in December 2019. He has represented the US in three Winter Olympics and five World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Griffin (alpine skier)</span> New Zealand alpine skier

Benjamin Griffin, also known as Ben Griffin, is an alpine skier from New Zealand. He competed for New Zealand at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Giant Slalom and Super G where he failed to finish the first run of either event.

Jonna Mendes is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. She specialized in the speed events and raced for nine seasons on the World Cup circuit. Mendes competed in two Winter Olympics and four World Championships. She was the bronze medalist in the Super G at the 2003 World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Robinson</span> New Zealand skier

Alice Robinson is a New Zealand World Cup alpine ski racer. At age sixteen, she competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics, in giant slalom and slalom. She represented New Zealand in the giant slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Hilmi Esat Bayındırlı, also known as Erik Bayindirli, is a Turkish-American Paralympic alpine skier, who competes in the LW11 disability class of mostly men's giant slalom, sitting event. He represented United States at the 2006 Winter Paralympics and Turkey at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. A trained jeweller, he was paralyzed below the chest following a car accident in his youth.

References

  1. 1 2 Ski Racing.com - Dane Spencer stable with head, neck and pelvis injuries after NorAm crash - 2006-02-15
  2. New York Times - Broken Neck Can’t Keep Skier Off Slopes - 2007-01-02
  3. Denver Post.com Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine - Bad break, steel spirit: Dane Spencer battles back - 2007-11-25 - accessed 2012-01-27
  4. Denver Post.com Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine - Getting back in the race, skier awaits OK after injuries - 2006-07-23
  5. Dane Spencer's recovery Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine - from U.S. Ski Team, 2006-08-03
  6. Idaho Mountain Express Archived 2012-09-07 at archive.today - Dane Spencer plays the comeback kid - 2008-11-28 - accessed 2012-02-21
  7. Ski Racing.com - Spencer joins alpine staff - 2010-07-28
  8. skiing.teamusa.org - U.S. Alpine announces coaching changes - 2011-05-31
  9. FIS-ski.com - 2005 World Championships - giant slalom - results - 2005-02-09
  10. FIS-ski.com Archived 2012-07-31 at archive.today - Adelboden, Switzerland - giant slalom - 2002-01-05
  11. FIS-ski.com Archived 2012-07-30 at archive.today - 2002 Winter Olympics - giant slalom - results - 2002-02-21