Betsy Snite
American alpine skier (1938–1984)
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Betsy Baxter Snite (later Riley, December 20, 1938 – June 15, 1984) was an American alpine ski racer[1][2] and Olympic medalist. She competed in the Winter Olympics in 1956 and 1960 and won the silver medal in the slalom in the latter.
Snite at the 1960 Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | December 20, 1938 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | June 15, 1984 (aged 45) Burlington, Vermont, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined | ||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 2 – (1956, 1960) | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 includes two Olympics | ||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Snite grew up in Norwich, Vermont, and was U.S. slalom champion in 1955 at age 16, edging Olympic gold medalist Andrea Mead Lawrence.[3] She participated in the giant slalom in 1956 at Cortina d'Ampezzo, but did not finish.
Four years later at Squaw Valley, Snite won the silver medal in the slalom.[4] In the giant slalom she finished fourth, but did not finish the downhill.[5] Shortly before the Olympics, she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[6]
According to the Vermont Ski Museum, Betsy learned to ski on Cemetery Hill in Norwich and with the Ford K. Sayre Memorial ski program. When she got too good, she trained with the Dartmouth College ski team.
She married Bill Riley in 1964, and they resided in Vermont at Stowe.[2] She died at age 45 in 1984, after a brief battle with cancer.[7]
