Phillip
Ferdinand Mahre (born
May 10, 1957) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer, widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of
all time. His total of 27 World Cup race wins is fourth among Americans, only
behind Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Bode Miller. Born in Yakima, Washington, Phil and his
twin brother Steve (four minutes
younger) were both world class ski racers and competed on the World Cup circuit
from 1976 to 1984. Starting
with the 1978 season,
Mahre finished in the top three in the World Cup overall standings for six
consecutive seasons, winning the title in the final three (1981, 1982, and 1983). The
Mahre twins retired from World Cup racing in March 1984 at age 26. On February
9, 2010, Mahre was the U.S. torch bearer to carry the 2010 Vancouver torch
across the border at the Blaine-Surrey Peace Arch. Despite
their very similar appearance and according to the delivering physician, the Mahre twins are fraternal rather than identical twins. Phil, Steve, and their seven siblings (four
older, three younger literally grew up at a ski area; in 1964, their father Dave "Spike" Mahre
became the mountain manager for the White Pass ski area, 50
miles (80 km) west of Yakima on US-12, where
they moved into a home near the base of the lifts. By the age of 12, the Mahre
twins' future was so promising that ski manufacturers sent them free skis, and
the next year Rossignol tried to
sign them to a career-long contract, which their father declined. Eventually
they would use skis made by an American company, K2, throughout their career. K2 was located on Vashon Island, just west
of Seattle, a few hours
northwest of White Pass. The Mahre twins worked extensively with the company
throughout their careers, developing custom race skis ideally suited to their
needs. Mahre graduated from Naches High School and
also played football as a
blocking back and linebacker for the Rangers. Mahre earned a spot on the U.S. Ski Team in
early 1973 at age 15. He was selected to the "A" team following
the 1975 season
and made his World Cup debut in
December 1975 at Val d'Isère, France. Two months later he competed at the 1976 Winter
Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, taking fifth in the giant slalom at age 18. He made his first podium in March
with a second in a giant slalom at Copper Mountain, Colorado, and finished the 1976 World
Cup season in 14th place in the overall standings. He won his first World Cup
race the next season, a giant slalom at Val d'Isère in December 1976, and followed it up with a slalom win in March at Sun Valley, defeating the man who became his primary
rival, the legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark, with twin brother Steve taking third. Mahre
finished ninth in the overall standings for 1977. The
following season established Mahre as one of the best ski racers in the world.
In 1978 he
placed second in the overall standings, followed by third in 1979, despite
breaking his lower left tibia in early March at the
pre-Olympic giant slalom at Whiteface near Lake Placid. At the 1980 Winter
Olympics in Lake Placid, he took the silver in the slalom behind Stenmark, along combined title
(not an Olympic event in 1980, but official as a concurrent World Championship title).
He again finished third in the overall World Cup standings for 1980, and won
the first of four consecutive discipline titles in the combined. At the 1984 Winter
Olympics in Sarajevo, Mahre again medaled in the slalom, this time taking the gold while Steve won the silver
for a Mahre twin 1–2 sweep. Steve had led the first of two runs, skiing
flawlessly and building a large half-second lead over Swede Jonas Nilsson with Phil in third place, another
two-tenths back. Phil skied a fine second run to grab the lead, then Nilsson
skied next and faltered, dropping out of the medals. Steve skied down last,
needing only a solid run to take the gold, but a series of mistakes dropped him
into second place, and Phil became the Olympic champion. Meanwhile, unknown to
the racers, Phil's wife Holly had given birth to their second child, a son,
in Arizona an hour before the race started. Phil did not
find out about it until a TV interview after the race. The
Mahres won two of the five alpine skiing medals taken by Americans, all from
the Northwest. Portland's Bill Johnson (downhill) and Seattle's Debbie Armstrong also won gold and Christin Cooper of Sun Valley took the silver for an American 1–2 finish in
the women's giant slalom. The Mahre twins raced a limited World
Cup schedule during the 1984 season,
and retired from the circuit in early March at age 26.[29] Phil ended his career with 27 World Cup race
victories, at the time second only to Stenmark's 79 wins among men's racers
(who ended his career in 1989 with
86 wins), while Steve finished with 9 wins.
Steven Irving Mahre (born May 10,
1957 in Yakima, Washington) is a
former World Cup alpine ski racer and younger twin brother (by four
minutes) of ski racer Phil Mahre. Mahre won the
silver medal in slalom at the 1984 Winter
Olympics in Sarajevo, 0.21 seconds behind his brother. He won the gold
medal in giant slalom at
the 1982 World
Championships in Schladming, Austria. His best finish in the overall standings was third
in 1982 and
fourth in 1981 (brother
Phil was the overall World Cup champion in 1981, 1982, and 1983). After
nine seasons, the Mahre twins retired from the World Cup circuit following
the 1984 season.
Steve finished his career with 9 World Cup victories and 21 podiums. The
book No Hill Too Fast, written by the Mahre brothers, was published
in 1985.