Fanny Smith

Fanny Smith

Smith in 2011
Medal record
Women's Freestyle Skiing
Competitor for   Switzerland
World Championships
Gold	2013 Voss	Ski cross
Bronze	2015 Kreischberg	Ski cross
Winter X Games
Bronze	2011 Aspen	Ski Cross
World Cup Medals
Gold	11	Ski Cross
Silver	7	Ski Cross
Bronze	4	Ski Cross
New Zealand Winter Games
Gold	2011 Cardrona	Ski Cross

Fanny Smith (born May 20, 1992 in Aigle Switzerland) is a Swiss freestyle skier. She represented Switzerland at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[1] She came in 7th and received an Olympic diploma for this performance. She has 22 podiums in the World Cup circuit and 36 top ten finishes.^[2][3]

Born in Aigle and brought up in the Swiss ski resort of Villars, Fanny has been skiing since the age of 2, starting on her path to becoming a World Champion almost as soon as she could walk.

Growing up in the Alps meant hours spent racing, jumping, and trying to keep up with her older brother on the slopes. During this time the competitive fires started to burn inside Fanny and at the age of 14 she was selected into the Swiss National Educational Performance Center of Brig.

Whilst at school in Brig, Fanny began to look for ways to combine her love of speed, jumps, adrenaline and head-to-head competition and set her sights on competing in Ski X.

When she graduated in 2009 Fanny found that there was no official Swiss Junior Ski X Program. However, her determination would not allow this problem stand in the way of her dreams. With the help of her family and sponsors, Fanny set to work to create her own team and build an intensive Ski X specific training program for herself.

Fanny started to train with Guillaume Nantermod, the Bordercross World Champion, and their partnership immediately showed signs of success. Before long Fanny and her team had been integrated into the Swiss National Team.

At just 17 years old, Fanny secured her first World Cup podium position, with 2nd place at the Lake Placid World Cup in January 2010. Her first win came just under a year later in Innichen/San Candido. From there, things were moving quickly in the right direction with two more 2nd places in the 2010-11 season. However, just as Fanny was on the cusp of joining the World’s Ski X Elite, she fell and tore her ACL forcing her out of competition for 11 months.

Her time away from the sport she is passionate about, only served to fuel her determination. After a hard and lengthy rehabilitation and aged still just 22, Fanny returned to the World Cup in stunning fashion. She dominated the 2012-13 season winning the first three races of the year and taking four victories total. She found herself on the podium in six out of the ten races and won the Crystal Globe as the world's top-ranked Ski X racer. To top her perfect return to Ski X she took the Gold Medal at the World Championships in Voss, Norway.

The 2013-2014 began well with Fanny securing 2nd place in the first race in Nakiska. She won the title in Innichen and was beaten into second place in a photo finish in Kreischberg by Ophelie David. Fanny finished ultimately in 2nd place in the 2014 overall World Cup standings.

Webpage: ⟨http://www.fanny-smith.com⟩ Facebook: ⟨https://www.facebook.com/smithfanny⟩ Twitter: ⟨https://twitter.com/SmithFanny⟩

References