At the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Nikki Stone became America’s first-ever Olympic Champion in the sport of inverted aerials. What made this performance so unbelievable, was the fact that less than two years earlier, a chronic injury prevented her from standing, much less walking or skiing down a slope at almost 40 miles per hour.
Her tenacity and refusal to step down from a challenge brought Nikki back to the top of the freestyle skiing podium. This top spot was far from foreign to Nikki, as throughout her career she earned 35 World Cup medals, eleven World Cup titles, four national titles, two yearlong Aerial World Cup titles, and a World Championship title. She also became the first pure aerialist ever (male or female) to become the yearlong Overall Freestyle World Cup Champion.
In addition to her skiing endeavors, Nikki is also a Magna Cum Laude undergraduate of Union College in New York and a 4.0 Suma Cum Laude graduate of the University of Utah in the field of Sports Psychology.
Nikki’s accomplishments have carried far beyond the slopes and school room as she now works as a motivational coach for a new national Biggest Loser program, trains other Olympic athletes in speaking skills, and she has recently authored the new, inspirational bestseller When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How to Stick Their Necks Out. Through her work as an athlete and a professional, you may have seen Nikki in one of her televised commercials or in one of her many television appearances on shows like Late Night with David Letterman and the Today Show. In her spare time, Nikki devotes her efforts to numerous charities—such as the American Cancer Society, Make A Wish and Right to Play—and sits on 5 different philanthropic committees. The majority of Nikki’s time is now dedicated to encouraging and inspiring audiences around the country—explaining in detail how she achieved success and they can do the same when they “Stick Their Necks Out”.
