Street Looking Beyond Obvious

America’s queen of the snows, Picabo Street, will return home in triumph next week with her second consecutive World Cup downhill trophy in her backpack and a gold medal from the World Alpine Skiing Championships around her neck.

Among those greeting her warmly will be Greg Anderson of Nike Sports Management, who doubtless has a briefcase full of endorsements and other moneymaking proposals for the 24-year-old Idaho native.

U.S. skiers have won gold medals before and thought they would parlay them into “millions,” as 1984 Olympic downhill champion Bill Johnson put it. But he wound up with amateurs running the show, as did 1994 Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe. Neither became independently wealthy when the figures were adjusted for future inflation. Street’s case could be different.

Last summer, she switched agents from Reno-based Chris Hanna Marketing to the larger Nike group, which made her its first female client--and first ski racer.

“We’re used to dealing with superstars, like a Deion Sanders,” Anderson said this week from his office in Beaverton, Ore. “We started out with Bo Jackson, and we’ve had athletes like Scottie Pippen, Alonzo Mourning and Ken Griffey Jr.

“What we do is take care of all of the matters they ask us to, so they can focus on their competition. Our expertise really is in marketing. We secure endorsements outside of Nike with other companies. And we structure a whole career-management plan for them that gets them involved to the extent they want to get involved in the community.

“We also try to find the right charities and programs for them, and I know that’s something Picabo is very interested in--giving back to the sport and trying to build interest in the sport. Her hope is that she can help raise funds so [American] kids can ski in 2002 and 2006 in the Olympics and do well.”

Street, who plans to continue racing at least through the 1998 Winter Games at Nagano, Japan, said after winning her downhill gold medal at Sierra Nevada, Spain, last month that she intends to auction her helmet, which was painted like a world globe, to raise money for U.S. ski racing programs.

The helmet was painted by John Blackman, her high school art teacher in Ketchum, Idaho.

Although still listed as racing out of Sun Valley, Idaho, Street recently bought a home in Portland, Ore., which she shares with her parents, Stubby and Dee.

In a conference call this week from Lillehammer, Norway, where the World Cup finals begin today, she gave them much of the credit for her success this season, adding: “I relied more on them than I ever have in my life.

“Last year, I was hungry. I was one of the girls with something to prove, someone to chase. This year, I was that person. But I was born in April, and I’m an Aries. Aries live to compete and win.”

Street’s parents attended several World Cup races this winter and saw her win at Sierra Nevada. Also on hand was boyfriend Joey Hoechsmann, who races on the Canadian development team.

After taking care of business in Portland, Street is looking forward to spending some time with Hoechsmann at Whistler Mountain, Canada. “It’s only a five-hour drive to the north,” she said. “And he likes to ski at Mt. Hood [in Oregon].”

Skiing Notes

The World Cup finals for men and women begin with the downhills today, followed by the super-giant slaloms Thursday, an off-day Friday, the giant slaloms Saturday and the slaloms Sunday. . . . Boreal and Alpine Meadows will play host to “Pacific Crest Ride,” the only California stop on the Grundig FIS Snowboard World Cup tour, Friday through Sunday. . . . The annual Ski Industries America trade show continues through Friday in Las Vegas. . . . Circle the calendar: Mammoth Mountain has announced that skiing and snowboarding will be free on Thursday, April 25.