Ted Ligety

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For other people with similar names, see Ligeti (surname).
Ted Ligety
— Alpine ski racer —

Ligety in February 2013
Disciplines Giant Slalom, Super G,
Slalom, Combined, Downhill
Club Park City Ski Education Foundation
Born (1984-08-31) August 31, 1984
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
World Cup debut November 22, 2003 (age 19)
Website tedligety.com
Olympics
Teams 2 – (2006, 2010)
Medals 1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams 5 – (2005–13)
Medals 5 (4 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 10th – (2005–14)
Wins 21 – (20 GS, 1 SC)
Podiums 43 – (1 SG, 2 SC, 34 GS, 6 SL)
Overall titles 0 – (3rd – 2013)
Discipline titles 4 – (4 GS)
Medal record
Men’s alpine skiing
Competitor for the
 United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2006 Turin Combined
World Championships
Gold 2011 Garmisch Giant Slalom
Gold 2013 Schladming Super-G
Gold 2013 Schladming Combined
Gold 2013 Schladming Giant Slalom
Bronze 2009 Val d'Isère Giant Slalom
Junior World Ski Championships
Silver 2004 Maribor Slalom

Theodore Sharp "Ted" Ligety (born August 31, 1984) is a champion alpine ski racer from the United States. He was the 2006 Olympic gold medalist in the combined and a four-time World Cup champion in giant slalom (2008, 2010, 2011, and 2013).[1] Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships. He successfully defended his world title in giant slalom in 2013 in Schladming, Austria, where he also won an unexpected gold medal in the super G and a third gold medal in the super combined.[2] Through October 2013, he has 21 victories (20 in giant slalom and 1 super-combined) and 43 podiums in World Cup competition.[3]

Career

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ligety grew up in Park City and began skiing at two and racing at ten. He attended The Winter Sports School and graduated in 2002. Ligety was named to the U.S. Skiing Development Team and won a silver medal in slalom in the Junior World Championships in 2004. He made his first start in a World Cup event during the 2004 World Cup season in the giant slalom at Park City, and was added to the U.S. Ski Team full-time in the 2005 season, during which he had four top-15 finishes in slalom, placing 24th overall in the discipline.

2006 Season

See also: 2006 Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety recorded his first World Cup podium finish in the first slalom of the season, at Beaver Creek in December, and followed that up with a second and a third during the next three slaloms. Ligety's first major victory of his professional career came at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, held at Sestriere. Ligety won the gold medal in the men's combined event, a major upset after the two racers favored to win the event failed to finish the slalom portion. At age 21, he became the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in alpine skiing in a dozen years, since Tommy Moe won the downhill at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Ligety also became just the fourth American male skier to win Olympic gold, along with Moe, Phil Mahre (slalom, 1984) and Bill Johnson (downhill, 1984). At Turin, Ligety also participated in the giant slalom and the slalom, but he failed to complete either event. Following his Olympic victory in the combined, Ligety recorded his first World Cup victory, a win in the giant slalom in Yongpyeong, South Korea. He finished ninth in the overall World Cup standings for the year, marking the first time that three American men had placed in the top 10 (along with Bode Miller in third and Daron Rahlves in fourth), despite the fact that he did not compete in downhill or Super G that year.

2007 season

See also: 2007 Alpine Skiing World Cup

In the summer of 2006, Ligety changed his ski supplier from Völkl to Rossignol.[4] With Rahlves' retirement, Ligety began to compete in all five events. However, he managed only two podium finishes during the season, a second in slalom and a third in giant slalom. Disappointingly, he had three fourth place finishes, one in giant slalom, one in super combined, and one in the World Cup finals downhill, as well as a fourth place finish in the giant slalom at the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden, missing a medal by 0.07 seconds. He finished eleventh overall in 2007.

2008 season

See also: 2008 Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety won his first World Cup season title in the giant slalom in 2008, and finished fifth in the overall standings. He won the final two giant slaloms of the year at Kranjska Gora and Bormio to edge out two-time defending champion Benjamin Raich of Austria for the season title. He also recorded four other podium finishes: a second and a third in giant slalom and two third places in slalom. In addition to his title, Ligety ranked seventh in combined and ninth in slalom.

2009 season

See also: 2009 Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety opened defense of his 2008 giant slalom title with a third place finish in Sölden, Austria, and then placed second at Beaver Creek, Colorado. At the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isère, France, Ligety took the bronze medal in the giant slalom, then won his fourth World Cup race at Kranjska Gora. He finished the season with another second at the finals in Åre, Sweden, which left him ranked third in GS and ninth overall for the season.

2010 season

See also: 2010 Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety notched his fifth World Cup victory in January, his third win at Kranjska Gora in as many seasons. At the finals in Garmisch, Germany, he finished on the podium to secure his second season title in giant slalom, and finished seventh in the overall standings.

At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at Whistler, he finished ninth in the giant slalom and fifth in the super-combined; he was fifteenth in the downhill portion and first in the one slalom run to finish a half-second out of the medals.

2011 season

See also: 2011 Alpine Skiing World Cup

After racing for four seasons on Rossignol skis, Ligety switched his equipment supplier to Head in the summer of 2010,[5] as fellow American champions Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller did in previous seasons. Ligety won his sixth World Cup race in December 2010, his first win on home snow in the U.S., taking the giant slalom by a substantial 0.82 seconds at Beaver Creek, Colorado, the site of his first podium five years earlier. It was the first World Cup victory in the U.S. (and North America) by an American male in four years; the last was by Bode Miller in the downhill at Beaver Creek in December 2006. Six days later, Ligety won the next GS race in Val d'Isère, France, by over a full second.[6] He won his third consecutive GS race at Alta Badia, Italy, the following week.

In February he won his first world championship, taking gold in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Fourth after the first run, Ligety won by 0.08 seconds over Cyprien Richard of France.[7] He won his third season title in giant slalom in 2011.[8]

2012 Season

See also: 2012 Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ligety was very sceptical of the new FIS rules for the GS, and cited David Dodge. Dodge states that it is well known that if one tips the new ski 7° more it will have the same turning radius than the old 27m ski. The greater knee angulation then increases the risk of injury.[9][10][11][12][13]

Other achievements

Ligety has won six national championships, putting him behind the all-time record of nine, held by Bode Miller and Tiger Shaw.

Following his Olympic gold medal at Turin, he started Shred Optics in 2006; Ligety designs all the products and uses them himself. The company produces ski goggles, sunglasses, and helmets.

Ligety served as the Director of Skiing for the now-bankrupt Mt. Holly Club, a private luxury ski and golf resort in southwestern Utah. It is located in eastern Beaver County, on the site of the former Elk Meadows ski area (1971–84).[14][15]

World Cup results

Season titles

  • 4 titles - (4 GS)
Season Discipline
2008 Giant Slalom
2010 Giant Slalom
2011 Giant Slalom
2013 Giant Slalom

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
Slalom 		Super G Downhill Combined
2004 19 132 54 — — — —
2005 20 62 24 — — — —
2006 21 9 4 12 — — 13
2007 22 11 15 8 — 35 11
2008 23 5 9 1 40 — 7
2009 24 9 22 3 21 — 44
2010 25 7 24 1 14 — 14
2011 26 9 24 1 35 58 13
2012 27 9 15 2 34 47 13
2013 28 3 19 1 7 57 —

Race victories

  • 21 wins - (20 GS, 1 SC)
  • 43 podiums:
    • 34 in GS: 20 wins, 5 second places, 9 third places
    • 6 in SL: 3 second places, 3 third places
    • 2 in SC : winner of the 2014 Wengen Super-Combined, 1 second place
    • 1 in SG: runner-up in December 2009 at Val d'Isère.
Season Date Location Discipline
20065 Mar 2006 South Korea Yongpyong, South Korea Giant Slalom
20088 Mar 2008 Slovenia Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant Slalom
14 Mar 2008 Italy Bormio, Italy Giant Slalom
200928 Feb 2009 Slovenia Kranjska Gora, Slovenia   Giant Slalom  
201029 Jan 2010 Slovenia Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant Slalom
20115 Dec 2010 United States Beaver Creek, USA Giant Slalom
11 Dec 2010 France Val d'Isère, France Giant Slalom
19 Dec 2010 Italy Alta Badia, Italy Giant Slalom
2012 23 Oct 2011 Austria Sölden, Austria Giant Slalom
6 Dec 2011 United States Beaver Creek, USA Giant Slalom
10 Mar 2012 Slovenia Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant Slalom
2013 28 Oct 2012 Austria Sölden, Austria Giant Slalom
2 Dec 2012 United States Beaver Creek, USA Giant Slalom
16 Dec 2012 Italy Alta Badia, Italy Giant Slalom
12 Jan 2013 Switzerland Adelboden, Switzerland Giant Slalom
9 Mar 2013 Slovenia Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Giant Slalom
16 Mar 2013 Switzerland Lenzerheide, Switzerland Giant Slalom
2014 27 Oct 2013 Austria Sölden, Austria Giant Slalom
8 Dec 2013 United States Beaver Creek, USA Giant Slalom
17 Jan 2014 Switzerland Wengen, Switzerland Super Combined
2 Feb 2014 Switzerland St Moritz, Switzerland Giant Slalom

World Championships results

Through 2013, Ted Ligety has won five medals in the World Championships, four of them gold. He won three of them in giant slalom, after a bronze medal in 2009 in Val d'Isère behind Carlo Janka and Benjamin Raich he won the GS world title in 2011 besting Cyprien Richard and Philipp Schörghofer. Ligety repeated as world champion in GS in 2013, ahead of Marcel Hirscher and Manfred Mölgg. At Schladming in 2013, he became a triple world champion in giant slalom, super G, and combined.

Ligety became the fifth man in history to win three or more gold medals at one world championships and the first in 45 years, when Jean-Claude Killy won four in 1968, with the combined as a "paper race." Ligety is the first racer of either gender to win the super G, giant slalom, and combined at one world championships.[2][16][17]

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 Slalom  		Super G Downhill Combined
2005 20 DNF   —   — — 12
2007 22 DNF 4 31 — DNF
2009 24 DNF 3 DNF — DSQ
2011 26 19 1 DNF — DNF
2013 28 DNF 1 1 — 1

Personal

Through a Citi charitable program, Ligety supports Youth Enrichment Services, an organization that takes urban youth to the mountains and teaches them how to ski and snowboard.[18]

Video

  • You Tube.com - victory at Kranjska Gora (1.61 sec) - from Universal Sports - 10-Mar-2012
  • You Tube.com - victory at Sölden (2.75 sec) - from Universal Sports - 28-Oct-2012
  • You Tube.com - victory at Adelboden (1.15 sec) - from Universal Sports - 12-Jan-2013

References

  1. ↑ "Ligety takes final GS and fourth GS crown". Ski Racing.com. March 16, 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Third Gold medal for Ted Ligety". Ski Racing.com. February 15, 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Ted Ligety U.S.A.: Facts and Figures". Ski-Db.com. Matteo Pacor. Retrieved 27 Oct 2013. 
  4. ↑ Ligety, Ted (October 24, 2006). "New sponsor will help meet the need for speed". Denver Post. Retrieved January 27, 2013. 
  5. ↑ Sports Illustrated – 2010-12-03 – accessed 2010-12-05
  6. ↑ "World Cup skiing: Ligety crushes field, wins another giant-slalom title". Salt Lake Tribune. December 11, 2010. 
  7. ↑ "Gold medal for USA’s Ted Ligety". Ski Racing.com. February 18, 2011. 
  8. ↑ Dunbar, Graham (March 18, 2011). "Ted Ligety wins World Cup giant slalom title". Forbes (Forbes.com LLC). Associated Press. Retrieved March 18, 2011. 
  9. ↑ Ted Ligety, Skiing's Most Outspoken Critic, Is Still the Best in the World, bleacher report, 2012-10-28.
  10. ↑ A Letter To FIS, David Dodge, 2011.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Update on Injury Trends in Alpine Skiing, Johnson, Etlinger, Shealy, Update on Injury Trends in Alpine Skiing, 2009
  13. ↑ Unfälle und Verletzungen im alpinen Skisport, David Schulz, Auswertungsstelle für Skiunfälle, Stiftung Sicherheit im Skisport, 2011.
  14. ↑ Colorado Ski History.com – Utah – Elk Meadows / Mt. Holly – accessed 2010-06-06
  15. ↑ Gorrell, Mike (November 9, 2009). "Elk Meadows ski resort on auction block". Salt Lake Tribune. 
  16. ↑ "Ted Ligety wins GS, becomes 1st man in 45 years to win 3 golds at a world championships". Washington Post. Associated Press. February 15, 2013. 
  17. ↑ Lewis, Michael C. (February 15, 2013). "Park City’s Ted Ligety dominates giant slalom for third gold at world championships". Salt Lake Tribune. 
  18. ↑ Ligety, Ted (October 24, 2013). Citi: Ted Ligety for Citi's Every Step of the Way Program (video). Citi. Retrieved 2013-11-02. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ted Ligety.
Olympic Champions in Men's Alpine Combined
World Champions in Men's Giant Slalom
World Champions in Men's Super-G
World Champions in Men's Combined


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