Marilyn Cochran Brown (born February 5, 1950) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States.

Marilyn Cochran
Personal information
Born (1950-02-07) February 7, 1950 (age 74)
Burlington, Vermont, U.S.
OccupationAlpine skier
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Skiing career
DisciplinesDownhill, giant slalom, slalom, combined
ClubUniversity of Vermont
World Cup debutMarch 1968 (age 18)
RetiredMarch 1974 (age 24)
Olympics
Teams1 – (1972)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams3 – (1970, 1972, 1974)
      includes Olympics
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons6 – (196974)
Wins3 – (1 GS, 2 SL)
Podiums15 – (9 GS, 6 SL)
Overall titles0 – (8th in 1973)
Discipline titles1 – (GS, 1969)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing the  United States
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1970 Val Gardena Combined

The eldest of four siblings of the "Skiing Cochrans" family of Richmond, Vermont, she became the first American to win a discipline championship in the World Cup, triumphing in giant slalom at age 19 in 1969.[1] The next year, she won a bronze medal in the combined at the World Championships.[2]

Racing career

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Born in Burlington, Vermont, Cochran and her younger sister Barbara (b. 1951) joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1967. She made her World Cup debut at age 18 in March 1968, a month after the Winter Olympics, with a pair of top ten finishes at the season's final stop in Aspen, Colorado. Brother Bob (b. 1951) joined the men's "A team" for the 1970 season and the three siblings competed on the World Cup tour through the 1974 season.

Marilyn was a three-time U.S. national champion during her career. In the 1969 season, she finished runner-up in the final five giant slalom races and won the World Cup season title.[1] Cochran was the only American alpine racer with a World Cup season title until 1980, when Phil Mahre won the combined. She won the bronze medal in the combined at the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena, Italy.[2] Sister Barbara was fourth in that competition, but won a silver in the slalom, where Marilyn was sixth.[3]

Cochran won three World Cup races, two in giant slalom and one in slalom, and had 15 podiums and fifty top ten finishes. The first victory came in February 1971 close to home, in Quebec at Mont Ste. Anne, with sister Barbara as runner-up.[4] She competed in all three events at the Winter Olympics in 1972 in Japan, but with disappointing results: 28th in downhill, 20th in giant slalom, and a fall in the first run of the slalom, the race won by her sister. At the World Championships in 1974 in Switzerland, Cochran finished eighth in giant slalom, and retired from international competition after the season.

Post-racing life

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After her racing career, Cochran attended the University of Vermont in Burlington and graduated in 1979. She married Chris Brown, an All-American racer at the university and later a professor of mechanical engineering at WPI. Their son Roger Brown, a 2004 graduate of Dartmouth, was also an All-American. He was the 2002 NCAA slalom champion and competed on the U.S. Ski Team. Younger son Douglas Brown was captain of the ski team at St. Lawrence University, and graduated in 2009.

Cochran was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1978. Sister Barbara (1976) and brother Bob (2010) are also members of the hall. Cochran also joined her siblings Barbara (2013) and Bob (2014) as members of the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

World Cup results

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Season titles

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Season Discipline
1969 Giant slalom

Season standings

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Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom
Super G Downhill Combined
1968 18 42 35 18 not
run
not
run
1969 19 11 11 1 20
1970 20 13 10 11 15
1971 21 11 10 8 11
1972 22 12 11 5 23
1973 23 8 9 7 21
1974 24 23 11

Points were only awarded for top ten finishes (see scoring system).

Race podiums

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  • 3 wins - (1 GS, 2 SL)
  • 15 podiums (9 GS, 6 SL)
Season Date Location Discipline Place
1969 4 Jan 1969   Oberstaufen, West Germany Slalom 3rd
9 Feb 1969   Vipiteno, Italy Giant slalom 2nd
17 Feb 1969   Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia Giant slalom 2nd
1 Mar 1969   Squaw Valley, CA, USA Giant slalom 2nd
14 Mar 1969   Mont St. Anne, QC, Canada Giant slalom 2nd
20 Mar 1969   Waterville Valley, NH, USA Giant slalom 2nd
1970 6 Jan 1970     Grindelwald, Switzerland Slalom 3rd
1971 13 Feb 1971   Mont St. Anne, QC, Canada Slalom 1st
14 Mar 1971   Åre, Sweden Giant slalom 2nd
1972 3 Jan 1972   Oberstaufen, West Germany Giant slalom 3rd
3 Mar 1972   Heavenly Valley, CA, USA Slalom 3rd
1973 21 Jan 1973   Les Contamines, France Slalom 3rd
26 Jan 1973   Chamonix, France Slalom 1st
15 Mar 1973   Naeba, Japan Giant slalom 1st
1974 7 Dec 1973   Val-d'Isère, France Slalom 3rd

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Austrian skier tops U.S. gals". Schenectady Gazette. Associated Press. March 21, 1969. p. 27.
  2. ^ a b "Sports scoreboard: skiing". Eugene Register-Guard. February 15, 1970. p. 4B.
  3. ^ "Sports whirl". Virgin Islands Daily. Associated Press. February 14, 1970. p. 16.
  4. ^ "Sisters one-two in world ski cup". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. February 14, 1971. p. 66.
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