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]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | March 21, 1979 Santa Cruz, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, super-G | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Heavenly Ski & Snowboard Fnd | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | March 7, 1997 (age 17) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | May 2006 (age 27)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 – (1998, 2002) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 – (1999–2005) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 9 – (1998–2006) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (25th in 2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 0 – (13th in SG, 2003) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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
editMendes 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
editTop ten finishes
edit| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Nov 30, 2000 | Lake Louise, Canada | Downhill | 10th |
| Dec 1, 2000 | Downhill | 6th | ||
| 2002 | Dec 1, 2001 | Lake Louise, Canada | Super-G | 10th |
| 2003 | Nov 29, 2002 | Aspen, USA | Super G | 10th |
| Dec 6, 2002 | Lake Louise, Canada | Downhill | 9th | |
| Dec 8, 2002 | Super G | 9th | ||
| Jan 17, 2003 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | Super G | 8th | |
| Jan 18, 2003 | Downhill | 5th | ||
| Feb 28, 2003 | Innsbruck, Austria | Super G | 8th | |
| 2004 | Dec 20, 2003 | St. Moritz, Switzerland | Downhill | 5th |
Season standings
edit| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 18 | 105 | — | — | 47 | — | — |
| 1999 | 19 | 77 | — | — | 42 | 40 | — |
| 2000 | 20 | 65 | — | — | 44 | 28 | 13 |
| 2001 | 21 | 37 | — | — | 29 | 17 | — |
| 2002 | 22 | 67 | — | — | 24 | 29 | — |
| 2003 | 23 | 25 | — | 53 | 13 | 16 | — |
| 2004 | 24 | 64 | — | — | 50 | 23 | — |
| 2005 | 25 | 64 | — | — | 35 | 26 | — |
| 2006 | 26 | 100 | — | — | 58 | 50 | — |
World Championship results
edit| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 19 | — | — | 26 | 25 | 9 |
| 2001 | 21 | — | — | 18 | 20 | 9 |
| 2003 | 23 | — | — | 3 | 6 | — |
| 2005 | 25 | — | — | — | 12 | — |
Olympic results 
edit
| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant Slalom |
Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 18 | — | — | 32 | 17 | 14 |
| 2002 | 22 | — | — | 16 | 11 | — |
References
edit- ^ "U.S. skier Jonna Mendes retires". Bangor Daily News. Maine. May 3, 2006. p. C5.
- ^ a b "World Championships medalist Jonna Mendes retires after 10 seasons". Ski Racing.com. May 2, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Clark, Mendes medal in Super-G". MountainZone.com. (U.S. Ski Team). February 3, 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ Corte, Tim (March 28, 2001). "GS victory surprises Mendes". Bangor Daily News. Maine. Associated Press. p. C4.
- ^ "Mendes crashes, needs surgery". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. March 29, 2001. p. 3C.
- ^ "Mendes wins Giant Slalom title". Fayetteville Observer. North Carolina. wire services. March 19, 2002. p. 6C.
- ^ "Freidmann captures downhill title". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. March 20, 2004. p. 3C.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Williams, Eric (October 11, 2011). "Mendes joins Sun Valley Ski Academy staff". Ski Racing.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Jonna Mendes named Ski Academy recruiting director". Idaho Mountain Express. Ketchum. October 14, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ Cordes, Jeff (December 13, 2013). "Ski Academy a good fit for Jonna Mendes". Idaho Mountain Express. Ketchum. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "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.
External links
edit- Jonna Mendes at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- Jonna Mendes World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Jonna Mendes at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Jonna Mendes at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Sun Valley Ski Academy – Jonna's blog
