Two women were triple medalists : Erika Hess of Switzerland won three golds , with titles in the slalom , giant slalom , and combined Cause_to_amalgamate , and Christin Cooper of the U.S. won two silvers and a bronze .

Hurricane Erika was the strongest and longest-lasting tropical cyclone Catastrophe in the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season .

Erika passed Motion_directional a short distance to the north of the Lesser Antilles , and later turned Becoming to the north in response Response to an approaching Arriving trough .

The hurricane Catastrophe quickly strengthened Cause_change_of_strength to become Becoming the only major hurricane Catastrophe of the season , reaching Arriving maximum sustained winds of 125 mph ( 205 km/h ) on September 8 ; after maintaining Preserving its peak strength Cause_change_of_strength for 24 hours , Erika began Process_start to weaken Cause_change_of_position_on_a_scale as it passed Motion_directional over cooler waters .

The passage of Erika carried Carry_goods a cloud of volcanic ash to Antigua from the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat , a rare occurrence .

Erika also produced Creating gusty winds and light rain in the Azores .

Erika was the only tropical cyclone Catastrophe in the Atlantic Ocean in the months of August and September , the first occurrence Presence of such event in an Atlantic hurricane season since 1929 .