Marie-Michèle Gagnon

Marie-Michèle Gagnon (born 25 April 1989) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Canada. Born in Lac-Etchemin, 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.

Marie-Michèle Gagnon
Alpine skier
Gagnon at Courchevel in 2015
DisciplinesSuper-G, Downhill,
Combined, Giant slalom
ClubMont Orignal
Born (1989-04-25) 25 April 1989
Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, Canada
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
World Cup debut13 December 2008 (age 19)
Websitemariemichelegagnon.com
Olympics
Teams2 - (2010, 2014)
Medals0
World Championships
Teams6 - (2009–2019)
Medals0
World Cup
Seasons13 - (2009–2021)
Wins2 - (2 SC)
Podiums5 - (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG)
Overall titles0 - (13th in 2014)
Discipline titles1 - (SC, 2014)[A]

Career

Gagnon joined the Canadian national team at the age eighteen, although her progress was halted by a leg fracture 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]

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][9] 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]

World Cup results

Season titles
Season Discipline
2014Combined A
A Crystal globes in combined were not awarded during these seasons, but medals were.[10]

Season standings
SeasonAge Overall  Slalom Giant
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200919733335———
20102010343————
20112129221649—15
20122221102644—12
20132321172332—4
2014241361919511
20152528113431—5
20162616111444—4
201727201316——21
201828863837———
20192946—2423—13
20203063—49373027
20213127——819—
Standings through 30 January 2021

Race podiums
  • 2 wins – (2 SC)
  • 5 podiums – (2 SL, 2 SC, 1 SG); 54 top tens
Season Date Location Discipline Place
201210 Mar 2012 Åre, SwedenSlalom3rd
201412 Jan 2014 Altenmarkt, AustriaSuper combined1st
201615 Feb 2016   Crans-Montana, SwitzerlandSlalom3rd
28 Feb 2016 Soldeu, AndorraSuper combined1st
202130 Jan 2021 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GermanySuper-G3rd

World Championship results
  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
200919DNF1DNF1———
201121DNF12322—DNF2
201323138———
2015251023DNF—DNF1
201727202019—6
2019 29 — 23 21 32 14

Olympic results
  Year   Age  Slalom  Giant 
 slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
2010203121———
2014249DNF1DNF—DNF2
201828Injured in November, missed rest of season

References
  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. "Das WM-Liebespaar: Gagnon und Ganong" [The World Championship lovers: Gagnon and Ganong]. Kleine Zeitung (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  10. "Skiing to revive super-combined". ESPN. Associated Press. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
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