Marie-Michèle Gagnon Explained

Marie-Michèle Gagnon
Disciplines:Super-G, downhill, combined, giant slalom
Club:Mont Orignal
Skis:Rossignol
Boots:Rossignol
Bindings:Rossignol
Sponsor:-->
Birth Date:25 April 1989
Birth Place:Lévis, Quebec, Canada
Height:1.77 m
Wcdebut:13 December 2008
Website:mariemichelegagnon.com
Olympicteams:3 - (2010, 2014, 2022)
Olympicmedals:0
Worldsteams:8 - (20092023)
Worldsmedals:0
Wcseasons:15 - (20092023)
Wcwins:2 - (2 SC)
Wcpodiums:5 - (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG)
Wcoveralls:0 - (13th in 2014)
Wctitles:1 - (SC, 2014)
Show-Medals:yes

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.

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.

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

World Cup results

Season titles

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
1973 33 35
20103 43
2129 22 16 49 15
2221 10 26 44 12
2321 17 23 32 4
2413 6 19 19 51 1
2528 11 34 31 5
2616 11 14 44 4
2721
28
2913
3027
31rowspan="3"
32362618
33622233

Race podiums

SeasonDateLocationDisciplinePlace
2012 10 Mar 2012 Åre, Sweden 3rd
2014 align=right bgcolor="#BOEOE6"12 Jan 2014 Altenmarkt, Austria 1st
2016 15 Feb 2016    Crans-Montana, Switzerland Slalom 3rd
28 Feb 2016 Soldeu, Andorra Super combined1st
2021 30 Jan 2021 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 3rd

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
19
21DNF2
23
25DNF1
276
29 14
31 DNF2
33 10

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
20
24DNF2
28Injured in November, missed rest of season
32

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Marie-Michèle Gagnon: le feu de l’effort . Bossé . Olivier. 18 November 2017. . French. Marie-Michèle Gagnon: the fire of the effort . 2 March 2019.
  2. Hoefl-Riesch regains slalom from with win in Are, Gagnon first podium in third . Ski Racing . Williams . Eric . 10 March 2012. 24 March 2014.
  3. News: Marie-Michele Gagnon wins first World Cup medal . Bradley . Bouzane . . 10 March 2012 . 22 March 2012 .
  4. News: Altenmarkt – Super Combined . FIS Alpine . 12 January 2014 . 12 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140113200946/http://www.fis-ski.com/alpine-skiing/events-and-places/event=33425/race=75158/index.html . 13 January 2014 . dead .
  5. Web site: Canada’s Gagnon draws inspiration from boyfriend’s run ahead of alpine Olympic debut . Reguly . Eric. Eric Reguly. 9 February 2014 . The Globe and Mail. 2 March 2019.
  6. Web site: Changement de cap pour Marie-Michèle Gagnon . Drouin . Simon. 31 March 2014 . La Presse (Canadian newspaper). French . Change of course for Marie-Michèle Gagnon . 2 March 2019.
  7. Web site: Le virage de Marie-Michèle Gagnon . Gilbert . Manon . 15 October 2014 . Radio-Canada.ca. French. The turn of Marie-Michèle Gagnon . 2 March 2019.
  8. Web site: Skier Marie-Michèle Gagnon dislocates shoulder, still plans to compete . Young . Leslie . 10 February 2014 . globalnews.ca. 2 March 2019.
  9. Web site: 13 alpine skiers and eight ski cross racers nominated to Team Canada for Beijing 2022. Nichols. Paula. 21 January 2022. www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. 21 January 2022.
  10. Web site: 21 Alpine Skiing and Ski Cross Athletes Nominated to Compete at Beijing 2022. 21 January 2022. www.alpinecanada.org/. Alpine Canada. 21 January 2022.
  11. Web site: Das WM-Liebespaar: Gagnon und Ganong . . 15 February 2017 . . German . The World Championship lovers: Gagnon and Ganong. 2 March 2019.
  12. Web site: Gagnon & Ganong: The tongue twister couple in the ski circus . News Read Online . 20 September 2021 . 5 December 2021.
  13. Web site: Skiing to revive super-combined . ESPN . Associated Press . 5 October 2012 . 24 March 2014 .