Winter Lee Vinecki (born December 18, 1998, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an American marathon runner, triathlete, and aerial skier.[1] [2]
Vinecki ran a marathon in Antarctica on March 30, 2013, when she finished the Antarctica Marathon with a time of 4 hours, 49 minutes, and 45 seconds, giving her third place in the women's race.[1] [3] In November 2013, she completed a marathon in Athens, Greece, which made her the youngest person to complete a marathon on seven continents, as she had done so on the other six continents previously.[1] [4] However, on September 6, 2014, Vinecki's record as the youngest person to run a marathon on all seven continents was broken.[5] She ran these marathons with her mother, Dawn Estelle, and the two are the first mother-daughter pair to complete seven marathons on seven continents.[4] [6] The marathons were in the United States, Kenya, Antarctica, Mongolia, Peru, New Zealand, and Greece.[1] At the Andes Adventures Inca Trail Marathon to Machu Picchu in Peru, Vinecki was the women's overall winner and set the women's course record.[1] [7]
She was the national IronKids triathlon champion in 2010 and 2011 and finished in 2012 as an official ambassador for IronKids.[1]
After meeting Emily Cook in 2011, Vinecki started training in aerial skiing.[1] [8] She lives with a host family in Park City, Utah, training at Utah Olympic Park,[7] while her family lives in Salem, Oregon.[2] [6] She qualified for the 2013 FIS Junior World Ski Championships but was unable to attend due to scheduling.[7] In March 2014, she was named as part of the U.S. Freestyle Junior Worlds Team.[9] The 2014 FIS Junior World Ski Championships were held later that month in Chiesa in Valmalenco, Italy. Vinecki placed fifth in ladies' aerials with a total of 162 points.[10] She had a goal to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics.[1] [7]
At age nine, Vinecki created a nonprofit organization, Team Winter, which raises money to fight prostate cancer, which her father died from.[1] [7] As of November 2013, the organization has raised over $400,000.[6] In 2011, Vinecki was the recipient of the ANNIKA Inspiration Award.[1] [11]
In August 2017, Vinecki received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development in recognition of her community service efforts and work with youth.[12]