Marie-Michèle Gagnon

Marie-Michèle Gagnon
Gagnon at Courchevel in 2015
Personal information
Born (1989-04-25) 25 April 1989 (age 35)
Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, Canada
OccupationAlpine skier
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Skiing career
DisciplinesSuper-G, downhill, combined, giant slalom
ClubMont Orignal
World Cup debut13 December 2008 (age 19)
Websitemariemichelegagnon.com
Olympics
Teams3 - (2010, 2014, 2022)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams8 - (2009–2023)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons15 - (2009–2023)
Wins2 - (2 SC)
Podiums5 - (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG)
Overall titles0 - (13th in 2014)
Discipline titles1 - (SC, 2014)[A]

Marie-Michèle Gagnon (born 25 April 1989) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. Born in Lévis, Quebec, she was a technical skier focused on slalom. However, since an injury at the start of 2017 season, she no longer competes in slalom and rarely in giant slalom, focusing on speed disciplines and combined.

Career

Gagnon joined the Canadian national team at the age of eighteen, although a leg fracture halted her progress at the start of her rookie season.[1] She made her World Cup debut in December 2008 and has represented Canada at two Winter Olympics and six World Championships.

Gagnon's first World Cup podium came in March 2012, a third-place in a slalom at Åre, Sweden.[2][3] Her first victory was in January 2014, a combined event at Altenmarkt, Austria.[4] which was the first podium for a Canadian in a World Cup combined event in thirty years.[5] The previous day she scored her first World Cup points in downhill at the same venue.[6] That season she also took her first top ten World Cup finishes in super-G, finishing tenth and sixth in races in Lake Louise and St. Moritz respectively.[7] At the Winter Olympics, Gagnon crashed out of the slalom run of the combined, dislocating her shoulder,[8] before failing to finish the super-G and giant slalom, and securing a ninth place in the slalom. She finished thirteenth in the overall World Cup standings and sixth in slalom.[6]

In January 2022, Gagnon was named to Canada's 2022 Olympic team.[9][10]

Personal life

Gagnon was the third of five siblings and left the family home at age twelve to pursue her education and ski racing in Mont-Sainte-Anne and Quebec City. Her childhood idols included Mélanie Turgeon, Geneviève Simard, and Erik Guay.[1]

Gagnon has been in a relationship with American alpine racer Travis Ganong since 2008.[5][11] The pair met through mutual friend Louis-Pierre Hélie;[1] in 2014, the couple moved to a new home in Lake Tahoe, California.[7][6] They became engaged at the Matterhorn on 15 September 2021.[12]

World Cup results

Season titles

Season Discipline
2014 Combined A
A Crystal globes in combined were not awarded during these seasons, but medals were.[13]

Season standings

Season Age  Overall   Slalom  Giant
 slalom 		 Super-G Downhill Combined
2009 19 73 33 35 — — —
2010 20 103 43 — — — —
2011 21 29 22 16 49 — 15
2012 22 21 10 26 44 — 12
2013 23 21 17 23 32 — 4
2014 24 13 6 19 19 51 1
2015 25 28 11 34 31 — 5
2016 26 16 11 14 44 — 4
2017 27 20 13 16 — — 21
2018 28 86 38 37 — — —
2019 29 46 — 24 23 — 13
2020 30 63 — 49 37 30 27
2021 31 24 — — 11 16 —
2022 32 36 — — 26 18
2023 33 62 — — 22 33
Standings through 5 February 2023

Race podiums

  • 2 wins – (2 SC)
  • 5 podiums – (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG); 61 top tens
Season Date Location Discipline Place
2012 10 Mar 2012 Sweden Åre, Sweden Slalom 3rd
2014 12 Jan 2014 Austria Altenmarkt, Austria Super combined 1st
2016 15 Feb 2016  Switzerland  Crans-Montana, Switzerland Slalom 3rd
28 Feb 2016 Andorra Soldeu, Andorra Super combined 1st
2021 30 Jan 2021 Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Super-G 3rd

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 		 Super-G Downhill Combined
2009 19 DNF1 DNF1 — — —
2011 21 DNF1 23 22 — DNF2
2013 23 13 8 — — —
2015 25 10 23 DNF — DNF1
2017 27 20 20 19 — 6
2019 29 — 23 21 32 14
2021 31 — — 6 13 DNF2
2023 33 — — 26 10

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 		 Super-G Downhill Combined
2010 20 31 21 — — —
2014 24 9 DNF1 DNF — DNF2
2018 28 Injured in November, missed rest of season
2022 32 — — 14 8 —

References

  1. ^ a b c Bossé, Olivier (18 November 2017). "Marie-Michèle Gagnon: le feu de l'effort" [Marie-Michèle Gagnon: the fire of the effort]. Le Soleil (Quebec) (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  2. ^ Williams, Eric (10 March 2012). "Hoefl-Riesch regains slalom from with win in Are, Gagnon first podium in third". Ski Racing. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ^ Bouzane, Bradley (10 March 2012). "Marie-Michele Gagnon wins first World Cup medal". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  4. ^ FIS Alpine (12 January 2014). "Altenmarkt – Super Combined". Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b Reguly, Eric (9 February 2014). "Canada's Gagnon draws inspiration from boyfriend's run ahead of alpine Olympic debut". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Drouin, Simon (31 March 2014). "Changement de cap pour Marie-Michèle Gagnon" [Change of course for Marie-Michèle Gagnon]. La Presse (Canadian newspaper) (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b Gilbert, Manon (15 October 2014). "Le virage de Marie-Michèle Gagnon" [The turn of Marie-Michèle Gagnon]. Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  8. ^ Young, Leslie (10 February 2014). "Skier Marie-Michèle Gagnon dislocates shoulder, still plans to compete". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  9. ^ Nichols, Paula (21 January 2022). "13 alpine skiers and eight ski cross racers nominated to Team Canada for Beijing 2022". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  10. ^ "21 Alpine Skiing and Ski Cross Athletes Nominated to Compete at Beijing 2022". www.alpinecanada.org/. Alpine Canada. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Das WM-Liebespaar: Gagnon und Ganong" [The World Championship lovers: Gagnon and Ganong]. Kleine Zeitung (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Gagnon & Ganong: The tongue twister couple in the ski circus". News Read Online. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Skiing to revive super-combined". ESPN. Associated Press. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2014.