Diana Golden

Diana Golden competed in giant slalom for LW2 disability at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, and won the event. This is for athletes missing a lower limb above the knee. She lost her leg just above the knee at age 12 due to a bone tumor. Golden was the best-known female disabled skier in the world in that era. She competed at two Winter Paralympics, 1980 and 1988, winning two gold medals in 1988.

Golden graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in English literature. She became a motivational speaker, telling her inspiring story. During her career she won 19 US titles and 10 World Championships. Unfortunately, Golden had a recurrence of cancer in 1992, and eventually died from cancer in 2001.

Her memory lived on. After her death Golden inspired a race series called the Diana Golden Race Series, hosted by Disabled Sports USA, at mountains which offer programs that teach the physically disabled how to ski. The Diana Golden Opportunities Fund was established to support and encourage junior athletes with disabilities.

Golden was given the Flo Hyman Memorial Award in 1991 by the Women’s Sports Foundation. She is a member of the US Ski Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. The citation on her entry into the International Hall of Fame read “She persuaded the ski world to treat all athletes the same, regardless of ability or, in her case, disability.”