Jonna Mendes

Last updated

Jonna Mendes
Personal information
Born (1979-03-21) March 21, 1979 (age 46)
Santa Cruz, California
Occupation Alpine skier
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Skiing career
Disciplines Downhill, super-G
Club Heavenly Ski &
Snowboard Fnd
World Cup debutMarch 7, 1997 (age 17)
RetiredMay 2006 (age 27) [1] [2]
Olympics
Teams2 – (1998, 2002)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams4 – (1999–2005)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons9 – (1998–2006)
Podiums0
Overall titles0 – (25th in 2003)
Discipline titles0 – (13th in SG, 2003)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing the United States
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2003 St. Moritz Super G
Junior World Ski Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg1999 Pra-Loup Downhill
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg1998 Megève Downhill

Jonna Mendes (born March 31, 1979) 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. [3]

Contents

Born in Santa Cruz on the California coast, Mendes began skiing at age four when her family moved to the Lake Tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada mountains. She made her World Cup debut in March 1997 and retired from international competition in May 2006. [2]

Mendes won four U.S. titles: two in giant slalom (2001, 2002) and two in downhill (2004, 2005). The first came at The Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana, [4] but was followed by a broken foot the next day, incurred in a crash near the end of her second run in the slalom. [5] She repeated the next year at Squaw Valley,. [6] She won her first downhill title at Alyeska in Alaska, and won again at Mammoth, in California, the following year. [7] [8]

After racing

Mendes attended college in New York City and dedicated her time to working with the U.S. Ski Team's national alpine development system. In 2008, she was the recipient of U.S. Ski Team's Russell Wilder award, which is given annually to recognize the most outstanding effort in focusing the interests of American youth on the sports of skiing or snowboarding. In 2011, Mendes moved to Sun Valley, Idaho to help found the new Sun Valley Ski Academy. Under her leadership, eleven student-athletes have been named to US National Alpine, Nordic, Para Alpine, and Snowboard Teams. [9] [10] [11] In recognition for her service to the local ski racing community, Mendes was named to the 2023 Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame. [12]

World Cup results

Top ten finishes

SeasonDateLocationDisciplinePlace
2001 Nov 30, 2000 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 10th
Dec 1, 2000Downhill6th
2002 Dec 1, 2001Lake Louise, Canada Super-G 10th
2003 Nov 29, 2002 Aspen, USASuper G10th
Dec 6, 2002Lake Louise, CanadaDownhill9th
Dec 8, 2002Super G9th
Jan 17, 2003 Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalySuper G8th
Jan 18, 2003Downhill5th
Feb 28, 2003 Innsbruck, AustriaSuper G8th
2004 Dec 20, 2003 St. Moritz, SwitzerlandDownhill5th

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
Slalom		Super GDownhillCombined
1998 18105——47——
1999 1977——4240—
2000 2065——442813
2001 2137——2917—
2002 2267——2429—
2003 2325—531316—
2004 2464——5023—
2005 2564——3526—
2006 26100——5850—

World Championship results

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 Slalom 		Super GDownhillCombined
1999 19——26259
2001 21——18209
2003 23—— 3 6—
2005 25———12—

Olympic results Olympic rings.svg

  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 Slalom 		Super GDownhillCombined
1998 18 — — 32 17 14
2002 22 — — 16 11 —

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. skier Jonna Mendes retires". Bangor Daily News. Maine. May 3, 2006. p. C5.
  2. 1 2 "World Championships medalist Jonna Mendes retires after 10 seasons". Ski Racing.com. May 2, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Clark, Mendes medal in Super-G". MountainZone.com. (U.S. Ski Team). February 3, 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ Corte, Tim (March 28, 2001). "GS victory surprises Mendes". Bangor Daily News. Maine. Associated Press. p. C4.
  5. ↑ "Mendes crashes, needs surgery". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. March 29, 2001. p. 3C.
  6. ↑ "Mendes wins Giant Slalom title". Fayetteville Observer. North Carolina. wire services. March 19, 2002. p. 6C.
  7. ↑ "Freidmann captures downhill title". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. March 20, 2004. p. 3C.
  8. ↑ "The winner and still U.S. downhill champion: Tahoe's Jonna Mendes". Tahoe Daily Tribune. South Lake Tahoe. April 3, 2005. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  9. ↑ Williams, Eric (October 11, 2011). "Mendes joins Sun Valley Ski Academy staff". Ski Racing.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Jonna Mendes named Ski Academy recruiting director". Idaho Mountain Express. Ketchum. October 14, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  11. ↑ Cordes, Jeff (December 13, 2013). "Ski Academy a good fit for Jonna Mendes". Idaho Mountain Express. Ketchum. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Jonna Mendes Went from Skiing's Top Tier to Helping Kids Reach for the Top". Eye on Sun Valley. Ketchum. December 7, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
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