Mary Riddell
Competition | 2017
Hometown: Delores, Colorado
School Name: Durango/Purgatory Adaptive Sports
Mary Riddell was born with a medical condition that necessitated the amputation of her leg below the knee. That didn’t slow her down. She began skiing at the age of three at Durango/Purgatory Adaptive Sports and began racing at age 9. She qualified for the US Adaptive Ski Team when she was 14 years old and for the next nine years she was a dominate figure in national and international competition.
Mary won six Paralympic medals in total. At the age of 18, she represented the United States in para-alpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano, Japan. Four years later, she represented Team USA at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. She won two gold, two silver and two bronzes in the Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G and Downhill at each Paralympic Games. Mary also won six World Championship medals, two of them Gold. In addition, she won three World Cup Overall Globes, 11 individual event World Cup Globes, and multiple National titles. During the 2000/2001 season, she was on the podium at every World Cup race, which she considers her most successful accomplishment.
