Deb's Racing Career

U.S. Ski Team, 1981 - 1988
Two-Time Olympian, 1984, 1988
Three-Time World Championship Participant, 1982, 1985, 1987

Results

World Championships
4th, Bormio, GS, 1985/4th
6th, Bormio, SG, 1985
6th, Crans Montana, SG, 1987

Olympics
1st, Sarajevo GS, 1984

World Cup
3rd, Puy-Sait-Vincent, SG, 1984
4th, St. Caterina, GS, 1984
4th, Sestriere, SG, 1985
4th, Val d'Isere, DH, 1986
5th, Les Diablerets, DH, 1983
5th, Mrgeve, GS, 1984
5th, Modonna, GS, 1984
5th, Val d'lsere, DH, 1985

General
National Junior Olympic Champion, GS, 1981
National champion, GS, 1987

Deb Armstrong, Alpine Technical Director for the Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School, is perhaps best known for her giant slalom gold medal in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. That astounding performance by the unassuming 20-year-old rocked the ski world, yet it was entirely typical of a career driven by the pure pursuit of knowledge and challenge. Growing up, Armstrong's household embraced both education and sports. Her father, a clinical psychologist at the University of Washington, and her mother, also a teacher, instilled Deb and her brother Olin with a love of learning, and an appreciation for all manner of outdoor recreation. As a family they hiked and skied in the mountains around Seattle, while dinner table conversation often centered on the mental side of sport.

Deb, a self-proclaimed jock preferred to keep active in all sports rather than specialize, but "I was too short for basketball so I skied instead." Armstrong started skiing at age 3, but did not take the typical path of an Olympic bound skier. She missed two entire years of skiing when the family moved to Malaysia. The US Ski Team first noticed Armstrong when the unheralded teenager blew away the competition to win the 1981 Junior Olympics. In similar fashion, Armstrong announced her presence on the global ski scene by winning the first training run in her first ever World Cup downhill.

Going into the 1984 Olympics, Armstrong's goal "was to experience the uniqueness of Olympic competition." That kept me in the moment so I could have fun." Fun translated to gold, and she went on to be ranked among the top seed in skiing in three events. After 8 years on the World Cup circuit, Armstrong retired in 1988.

After her athletic career, Armstrong immersed herself in academics, earning her history degree from the University of New Mexico. As skiing ambassador for the Taos Ski Valley, she found herself unequipped to answer many technical ski questions from guests, so again, she turned to learning as a solution, and earned her PSIA level I, II and III certifications. "I learned so much and my skiing improved, so I continued challenging myself and made the PSIA demo team." Currently Armstrong spends her winters in Taos and her summers in Seattle.