Fraser Dies: First U.S. Skier to Win Gold

SUN VALLEY, Idaho —  Gretchen Fraser, the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing, died Thursday of natural causes. She was 75.

A spokeswoman for the Sun Valley Co., said Fraser died at the Wood River Medical Center after being taken there late Wednesday.

Fraser won the gold medal at the 1948 games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in what is known today as the giant slalom. She also took the silver medal in the combined slalom and downhill.

She had lived in Sun Valley with her husband Don Fraser, who was a member of the U.S. Alpine team in 1936 and won a gold medal in the Pan-Am games in Chile that year. Don Fraser died 13 months ago. He was 80.