Jimmie Heuga (Courtesy CUBuffs.com)
With the 2010 Winter Olympics just days away, the U.S. Ski Team is mourning the loss of one of their all-time greats.
Jimmie Heuga, who won one of the first two medals in U.S. men’s Olympic Ski Team history, passed away Monday in Louisville, Colo. He was 66.
After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1970, Heuga fought the disease for nearly four decades before recent respiratory problems helped take his life.
Heuga won the bronze medal in slalom at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and was the 1963 NCAA slalom champion for CU. He lettered three times at the university and eventually finished his degree in 1973, earning a B.A. in political science.
Heuga and fellow CU alum Billy Kidd were the second Buffaloes to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated on Feb. 5, 1968, four years after fellow U.S. and CU teammate Buddy Werner graced the cover.
Heuga skied for the U.S. national team for 10 years before retiring to become a coach after the 1968 Winter Olympics at Grenoble, France.
Heuga was a member of the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame (1976), the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame (1987), the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame (2000) and the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame (2008). Heuga founded the Jimmie Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Edwards, Colo. in 1983 to offer physical conditioning and consult services to help people with disabilities and personal challenge. The center is now called Can Do Multiple Sclerosis.
Heuga was born on Sept. 22, 1943 in Tahoe City, Calif. He is survived by his wife Debbie, and three sons, CU junior Wilder, CU freshman Blaze and 15-year-old Winston.
To read more on the life of Jimmie Heuga click here.
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Ron Knabenbauer at Ronald.knabenbauer@colorado.edu.
