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.
 Gagnon at Courchevel in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 April 1989 Lévis, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation | Alpine skier |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Skiing career | |
| Disciplines | Super-G, downhill, combined, giant slalom |
| Club | Mont Orignal |
| World Cup debut | 13 December 2008 (age 19) |
| Website | mariemichelegagnon.com |
| Olympics | |
| Teams | 3 - (2010, 2014, 2022) |
| Medals | 0 |
| World Championships | |
| Teams | 8 - (2009–2023) |
| Medals | 0 |
| World Cup | |
| Seasons | 15 - (2009–2023) |
| Wins | 2 - (2 SC) |
| Podiums | 5 - (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG) |
| Overall titles | 0 - (13th in 2014) |
| Discipline titles | 1 - (SC, 2014)[A] |
Career
editGagnon 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
editGagnon 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
editSeason titles
edit- 1 title (1 combined) [A]
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Combined A |
Season standings
edit| 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
edit| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 10 Mar 2012 |  Åre, Sweden |
Slalom | 3rd |
| 2014 | 12 Jan 2014 |  Altenmarkt, Austria |
Super combined | 1st |
| 2016 | 15 Feb 2016 |  Crans-Montana, Switzerland |
Slalom | 3rd |
| 28 Feb 2016 |  Soldeu, Andorra |
Super combined | 1st | |
| 2021 | 30 Jan 2021 |  Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany |
Super-G | 3rd |
World Championship results
edit| 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
edit| 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Bouzane, Bradley (10 March 2012). "Marie-Michele Gagnon wins first World Cup medal". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ FIS Alpine (12 January 2014). "Altenmarkt – Super Combined". Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Young, Leslie (10 February 2014). "Skier Marie-Michèle Gagnon dislocates shoulder, still plans to compete". globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Das WM-Liebespaar: Gagnon und Ganong" [The World Championship lovers: Gagnon and Ganong]. Kleine Zeitung (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ "Gagnon & Ganong: The tongue twister couple in the ski circus". News Read Online. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Skiing to revive super-combined". ESPN. Associated Press. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
External links
edit- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at FIS (alpine)
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Olympedia
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Team Canada
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Alpine Canada.org – national ski team – athletes – Marie-Michèle Gagnon
- Official website
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon on Twitter
