Marie-Michèle Gagnon
 Gagnon at Courchevel in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 April 1989 Lac-Etchemin, 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) |
| Retired | 2023 |
| 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] |
Marie-Michèle Gagnon (born 25 April 1989) is a Canadian former alpine ski racer.
Career
[edit]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
[edit]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] They married in July 2024.
World Cup results
[edit]Season 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 the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Alpine Canada
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Team Canada
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Olympics.com
- Marie-Michèle Gagnon at Olympedia
- Official website. Archived 16 September 2024 at the Wayback Machine.
