April 06, 2018 – Liz Stephen’s career spanned 12 fabulous years and her immense contributions to the sport and the U.S. women’s ski team defy her petit stature as she challenged the world’s best on some of toughest courses on the globe including the feared Alpe Cermis in Italy at the Tour de Ski.

Liz Stephen made the switch to cross-country racing from Alpine racing in her 10th grade year at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont. It was a great change for Stephen, as she quickly became competitive in the junior ranks under Burke’s then head coach, Matt Whitcomb, tying Kikkan Randall for a win in the 5km freestyle at the US Nationals in 2006.

She landed on her first international podium placing 3rd in the 15 km freestyle race at the 2008 U23 World Championships in Malles, Val Venosta, Italy. Stephen joined Randall for the team sprint in a FIS World Cup test event at the Whistler Olympic Park in January 2009, and the two earned 4th, just out of the medals.

She went on to compete at the 2009 Nordic World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, the first of the five, from 2009 to 2017. Her best individual placing at the World Championships was achieved in 2013, where she earned 5th in the 10 km Freestyle. She raced in three Olympics:  2010, 2014 and 2018, attaining a personal best of 12th place in the Skiathlon at the Sochi, Russia Olympics.

Other top placements include her first World Cup podium, placing second in the 10km Freestyle at Rybinsk, Russia in 2015.  She was second again in 2017 in the Skiathlon at the PyeongChang World Cup test event.

Small in stature but big in heart, Stephen excelled at hill climbs. She recorded some of the fastest times up the brutally steep Alpe Cermis, the final stage of the annual Tour De Ski – with her top finish being second in 2016.  In 2015, she captured 5th place overall at the Tour de Ski, the high-water mark for the American women at the time.

She was also a key member, most often racing the third, skate leg of the Women’s 4 X5 km  for the increasingly successful US Women’s relay team.  Liz and her teammates hit the podium for the first time in Gaellivare, Sweden in 2012, earning third place.  They repeated that third placing in the Lilliehammer World Cup relays in both 2013 and 2015.

In 2016, they attained the second step on the podium in the Nove Mesto, Czech Republic World Cup Relay.  In each of the 2013, 2015 and 2017 World Championship Relays, Liz and her teammates recorded 4th place finishes in Val di Fiemme, Italy; Falun, Sweden; and Lahti, Finland respectively.  In addition to her racing prowess, Liz added great spirit and a fun, caring personality to the US Team.

After earning her first National Championship title in 2006, Liz captured six more national titles between 2008 and 2011.  These were in the 10 km freestyle at Callahan Valley, Canada in 2008; the 15 and 30 km classic races in Fairbanks, Alaska, also in 2008; the 7.5 km classic pursuit and the 30 km classic in the 2009 Fairbanks races; and the 20 km freestyle in Rumford, Maine in 2011.

She also won the 7th Annual NYSEF Climb to the Castle rollerski race at Wilmington, NY in 2013 and the North Face Race To The Top Of Vermont in Stowe that same year.

Stephen is now looking forward to many new adventures, a major one being going back to school to become a nurse.  She plans to continue living in Utah for the time being, then “seeing where the flowers smell sweetest.”

Her advice to young skiers reflects her philosophy: “Love the pursuit of the goal, not the goal itself. Be a good teammate above all else. Find the joy of sport and life in every moment you can. And try, try, try, try try as hard as you can as many days and in as many things as you can. That’s how you find out just how good you can be.”