Patricia Chauvet-Blanc

Slalom specialist Patricia Chauvet-Blanc represented France at four consecutive Olympic Winter Games. She made her Olympic début at Calgary 1988 where she finished 14th and then, at Albertville 1992, she had her career best Olympic finish of sixth. In her next two Olympics, Chauvet-Blanc did not finish either slalom race.

A 1996 World Championships slalom silver medalist in Sierra Nevada, Spain, Chauvet had three more top seven finishes at Worlds (seventh in 1992 and 1993, fourth in 1997). Along with her one World Cup podium victory in 1993 (slalom) in Austria, Chauvet had 11 other podium finishes (four seconds, seven thirds). At the 1985 World Junior Championships she finished 12th in the giant slalom and 25th in the downhill.

Chauvet was introduced to the sport at the age of eight while on vacation with her grandfather, and in his honour she had two little religious medals sewn into the back of her ski suit. She grew up in Briancon, France, with her father André (a diesel technician), mother Denise (laboratory assistant), and younger sister Nathalie. After attending Lycée Climatique d’Altitude, in 1993, Chauvet married Christophe Blanc in Nevache, Hautes Alps, and in 2018, she participated in the Raid Amazones in Sri Lanka, a 100% female multi-sport annual event.