Moe, Kitt Retire from World Cup Ski Racing
Pair Have Seven Olympics Between Them

Tommy Moe
Thursday, June 4, 1998

PARK CITY, Utah -- Former Olympic downhill champion Tommy Moe and World Championships bronze medalist AJ Kitt are retiring from World Cup ski racing after each spent more than a decade on the tour, the U.S. Ski Team announced Wednesday.

Both medal-winners said they planned to stay involved in Ski Team activities, as their schedules allow. U.S. Men's Head Coach Bill Egan said he hoped each would be able to assist with some coaching at one or more preseason training camps "and maybe even in Europe during the winter. AJ and Tommy have a lot to offer our young guys coming through the pipeline."

"I've had a lot of fun. I don't have any regrets..."— Tommy Moe
Moe, 28, of Jackson, WY, competed in three Olympics and became the first American man to earn two medals in the Winter Games when he won the 1994 Olympic downhill and returned four days later — on his 24th birthday — to take silver in super G. Kitt, 29, of Boulder, CO, the only U.S male alpine racer to compete in four Olympics, took home the bronze medal in downhill from the 1993 World Championships; both Moe and Kitt won one World Cup race each although Kitt had three other apparent wins overturned by weather.

"AJ and Tommy took the program to its greatest heights, and showed how hard work can pay dividends, how the Olympics and World Cup don't belong to just the Europeans. We certainly wish them all the best of luck," said Alan Ashley, "and hope they'll stay involved with Ski Team programs. They've got a lot to contribute."

"It's been great. I've had a lot of fun and I don't have any regrets," said Moe, who also won five U.S. national championships during his 12 years on the Ski Team. He plans to race professionally, he said, and, among other projects, do promotional work for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Moe, who grew up skiing in Montana, won two gold medals at the 1989 World Junior Championships. He also raced in the first of his four World Championship s that same year. Moe reached the height of his career in the 1994 season. In addition to his success in Lillehammer, he won a World Cup super G (Whistler, B.C.) and had four other top-3 results, 10 top-10s overall.

Kitt moved onto the World Cup during the 1988 season. "I'm going to miss standing at the top of the course in Kitzbuehel [Austria] and Val d'Isere [France, where he won in December 1991], and then racing those big hills in Europe, and standing at the finish area with my colleagues. But the reality is I'm not as motivated any more to achieve everything necessary to do that ... I've always done this with success in mind. I'm used to being in the top three, used to finishing at the top, and when you get bounced back to a different level, it's hard to take," he said.

After a poor season in 1994, Kitt fought back to top form in 1995 to finish second in two World Cup races and win the Aspen downhill for a second time. Kitt never really made the comeback he wanted after tearing the ACL in his left knee while preparing for the December, 1995 World Cup downhill in Val d'Isere.

He said he and his wife, Nancy, are looking into broadcast television opportunities for her. "I'm still going to be traveling for the different things I do, so I can live anywhere, so we want to get a good situation for Nancy and go live wherever that may be."

"I'm going to miss standing at the top of the course in Kitzbuehel..."
AJ Kitt
He plans to stay involved with Ski Team activities - perhaps as a guest coach at some training camps -- in addition to pursuing several options, from competing in professional downhill races to working with a variety of promotional opportunities. The only U.S. man to race in four Olympics, he has been a spokesman for many years for Rolex Watch U.S.A., which sponsors the annual alpine Junior Olympics.


AJ Kitt in
Beaver Creek
Kitt grew up in Rochester, N.Y. and started on wooden skis at two at Swain Ski Center where his parents, Ross and Nancy, were part-time instructors. He graduated from Green Mountain Valley School and moved onto the World Cup tour during the 1988 Olympic season. He competed in four Olympics (1988, '92, '94 and '98) and four World Alpine Ski Championships (1989, '91, '93 and '97), taking home the bronze medal in downhill from the '93 championships in Morioka-Shizukuishi, Japan.

He "won" four World Cup races but receives credit for only one official victory, the season-opening downhill at Val d'Isere, France in December 1991. Two apparent victories at Aspen, Colo. in 1993 and 1995, and another at Val d'Isere were canceled because of poor weather. He had five other World Cup top-3s in his career, was third in the 1992 World Cup downhill standings and won four U.S. ski championships in his career.

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