Nikki Ziegelmeyer was the 1989 US Junior Girls Champion in short-track skating, and qualified for the 1992 Winter Olympic team at the age of 16. She competed in two Winter Olympics in the short-track relay, winning a silver in 1992 and a bronze in 1994. In 1997 Ziegelmeyer was training at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, and crashed into the boards, breaking a bone in her back that required surgery. Doctors were not certain she would walk again but eight weeks later she took her first steps. She attempted a comeback by switching to long-track skating, but it was a brief one. Ziegelmeyer sued the US Olympic Committee over the accident, but did not win.
While recovering, Ziegelmeyer began doing some painting work at her father’s fire and restoration company in Arnold. She liked it, and relished the idea of working in a male-dominated field. So, after considering a career in broadcasting, she opened a painting business in July 2000 at the age of 23. The business expanded quickly, owned by Ziegelmeyer and her first husband, Brad Brown, and she now concentrates on running the business while employing painters.
United States