Jean Saubert

Jean Marlene Saubert (May 1, 1942 – May 14, 2007) was an alpine ski racer from the United States. She won two medals in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria. After graduating from college, Saubert became an educator.

Early life Born in Roseburg, Oregon, Saubert grew up in Cascadia and graduated from Lakeview High School in 1960. She learned to ski at Hoodoo Butte and raced competitively at Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor. In 1963 and 1964, she was the U.S. downhill and giant slalom champion, and also won the slalom and combined national championships in 1964. She won a total of 8 U.S. championships in her racing career.

At the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Saubert won a bronze medal in the slalom and a silver medal in the giant slalom, losing only to French sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel. Saubert was the only multiple medal winner for the U.S. in those Olympics, and her medals represented two of the six medals won by the entire United States team. Two years later, Saubert finished fourth in the slalom at the 1966 World Championships in Portillo, Chile. Following the world championships, held in August, Saubert retired from international competition at age 24.

Post-competition life Saubert returned to Oregon and graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis in 1966.

Saubert was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1976, She was chosen to be one of the torchbearers for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Saubert was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, and died of the disease at age 65 in Bigfork, Montana where she lived, on May 14, 2007.