Marie-Michele GAGNON

Historical Results

Mitch (likes it as it represents her tom-boy side). (mariemichelegagnon.com)

Cooking, mountain biking, adventures in nature, house projects including building a sauna. (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

Athlete

Attended high school at Cardinal Roy in Quebec City (QC). Subsequently she has taken classes through Athabasca University (AB). (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

Partner, Travis Ganong. Father, Daniel Gagnon. Mother, Marie-Luce Giguere. Brothers, Olivier, Marc-Etienne, Raphael. Sister, Andreanne.

French, English, German, Spanish

Mont-Orignal

National: Hansjorg Plankensteiner (ITA)

Partner Travis Ganong (Alpine skiing): Represented the United States of America in the downhill at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, finishing fifth, 31/100th's of a second from a medal, 41/100ths from gold. 2015 World Championships silver medallist. They first met when they both won a Nor-Am Cup race on the same day in February 2007 in Apex, BC. (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021; The Next Turn Podcast, 5 May 2021)

Mountain biking, hiking, running, tennis, paddle boarding, kite surfing, pickle ball and more. (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

2004 FIS event in Val St. Come (Slalom - 10th)
2008 World Cup in La Molina (Giant slalom - DNQ1)

INJURY SUMMARY
Has had two shoulder labrum repairs, one anterior cruciate ligament surgery, a broken hand and knuckle, and a broken humerus. "Nothing too major that kept me out of the sport too long though thankfully." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

February 2020: Broke bone in right hand when she grazed the bottom of a downhill gate in the second downhill race in Crans-Montana because the gloves she was wearing for aerodynamic reasons offered little protection. She managed to tape her ski pole to the hand the next day, figured how to go in and out of her tuck, and placed 15th in the combined, after not racing the latter all season.

30 November 2017: Lost her edge making a turn and crashed into the netting during downhill training in Lake Louise. Initially, it was thought that she had only dislocated her left shoulder. But further tests revealed she had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee, requiring surgery and forcing her to miss the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. (cbc.ca, 14 Oct 2020)

February 2014: Dislocated left shoulder at Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Bothered her the entire 2014/15 season, leading to her undergoing surgery at the end of the season.

2007: Fractured her tibia and fibula.

2008

Was introduced to skiing at age two when her parents took the kids in a few times a winter to a local ski area. When she was seven, she tried out for the local ski team and her love for skiing grew exponentially. Her younger brother joined the ski team first, but since she liked to race him so she also joined. (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

She loved doing a sport that was outdoors and in a team environment. "I also clearly loved pushing my limits and going really fast on skis." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

Competing in downhill at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is an Olympic dream. “I have not yet achieved what I want to achieve in my sport. I want to win an Olympic medal, I want to win a Crystal Globe, I have dreams that I work hard for. I know it's not easy, but when you have victories or podiums, it's so special." (ici.radio-canada.ca, 30 Jul 2018)

"As I'm nearing the end of my career, I hope to reach the podium in downhill on the World Cup tour. Of course, Olympic or World Championships medals would also be fantastic." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

For physical training in the summer, she trains with her partner Travis Ganong, and they push each other a lot in the gym. She works on meditation and does yoga. Besides her teammates, she has trained with Lindsey Vonn (USA), Olympic/World champion who has 39 World Cup downhill wins, and 2017 World downhill champion Ilka Stuhec (SLO). "They were pushing me. I was two seconds behind Vonn and able to close the gap [to 1.5 seconds]. You have a benchmark in Vonn showing you what line to get, where to tuck and do the right things." (cbc.ca, 27 Oct 2017)

Both of her World Cup wins came in the combined, including a 2014 super-combined victory in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee and an Alpine combined win in 2016 at Soldeu-El Tarter. Her 2014 victory was the first for a Canadian in a combined World Cup since 1984. (olympic.ca)

Alpine skier Melanie Turgeon (CAN), three-time Olympian (1994, 1998, 2002), 2003 World downhill champion.

Alpine skier Erik Guay (CAN), three-time Olympian (2006, 2010, 2014), two-time World downhill champion.

Multi-sport athlete Georgia Simmerling (CAN), 2016 Olympic bronze medallist (cycling team pursuit), the first Canadian to compete in three Olympics in three sports (Alpine skiing, skicross, track cycling).

(ici.radio-canada.ca, 30 Jul 2018; Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

Marie Couture, her coach from the Skibec team, as well as her rival from Mont-Orignal, Yanni-Lou. "I tried for years to beat her and it made me so much better." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

"I used to knock on my helmet a few times before going down, but I don't have any more superstitions now." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

"Sport is my life, it has taught me about everything I know. I have led a very healthy lifestyle being an athlete. I have seen first hand how sport can teach so much to kids." (Athlete, 13 Jul 2021)

Steve Podborski Award, a $2,500 scholarship awarded for her efforts in both athletics and academics by Alpine Canada. (2004)