Jonna Mendes (born March 31, 1979) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. She specialized in the speed events and raced for nine seasons on the World Cup circuit. Mendes competed in two Winter Olympics and four World Championships. She was the bronze medalist in the Super G at the 2003 World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Born in Santa Cruz on the California coast, Mendes began skiing at age four when her family moved to the Lake Tahoe area in the Sierra Nevada mountains. She made her World Cup debut in March 1997 and retired from international competition in May 2006.
Mendes won four U.S. titles: two in giant slalom (2001, 2002) and two in downhill (2004, 2005). The first came at The Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana, but was followed by a broken foot the next day, incurred in a crash near the end of her second run in the slalom. She repeated the next year at Squaw Valley,. She won her first downhill title at Alyeska in Alaska, and won again at Mammoth, in California, the following year.
After racing Mendes attended college in New York City and dedicated her time to working with the U.S. Ski Team's national alpine development system. In 2008, she was the recipient of U.S. Ski Team's Russell Wilder award, which is given annually to recognize the most outstanding effort in focusing the interests of American youth on the sports of skiing or snowboarding. In 2011, Mendes moved to Sun Valley, Idaho to help found the new Sun Valley Ski Academy. Under her leadership, eleven student-athletes have been named to US National Alpine, Nordic, Para Alpine, and Snowboard Teams. In recognition for her service to the local ski racing community, Mendes was named to the 2023 Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame.
World Cup results Top ten finishes 5 Downhill, 5 Super G Season Date Location Discipline Place2001Nov 30, 2000 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 10thDec 1, 2000 Downhill 6th2002Dec 1, 2001 Lake Louise, Canada Super-G 10th2003Nov 29, 2002 Aspen, USA Super G 10thDec 6, 2002 Lake Louise, Canada Downhill 9thDec 8, 2002 Super G 9thJan 17, 2003 Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Super G 8thJan 18, 2003 Downhill 5thFeb 28, 2003 Innsbruck, Austria Super G 8th2004Dec 20, 2003 St. Moritz, Switzerland Downhill 5th
Season standings Season Age Overall Slalom GiantSlalom Super G Downhill Combined 1998 18 105 — — 47 — — 1999 19 77 — — 42 40 — 2000 20 65 — — 44 28 13 2001 21 37 — — 29 17 — 2002 22 67 — — 24 29 — 2003 23 25 — 53 13 16 — 2004 24 64 — — 50 23 — 2005 25 64 — — 35 26 — 2006 26 100 — — 58 50 —
World Championship results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super G Downhill Combined 1999 19 — — 26 25 9 2001 21 — — 18 20 9 2003 23 — — 3 6 — 2005 25 — — — 12 —
Olympic results Year Age Slalom Giant Slalom Super G Downhill Combined 1998 18 — — 32 17 14 2002 22 — — 16 11 —
References
External links
Jonna Mendes World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
Sun Valley Ski Academy – Jonna's blog