Injury Sidelines Travis Ganong For Season
Travis Ganong, one of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s primary men’s Alpine speed team athletes, suffered an injury at the recent FIS Alpine World Cup event in Bormio, Italy which means he will miss the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea. Post-event assessments by a medical team in the USA established that the injuries Travis sustained included an ACL tear which brings to an end the Californian ski racer’s season.
“I’m obviously disappointed that the injury I sustained in Bormio means my season is over, especially as this is an Olympic year,” said Ganong after his injury was diagnosed. “But I know I will be back, and I will be back stronger and faster than ever. Now my focus is on recovery and on supporting my teammates at the Games in South Korea. We have an incredible team, right across all the disciplines U.S. Ski & Snowboard represents, and I’ll be cheering as loudly as any of our fans when our guys win medals in PyeongChang.”
“Travis was a medal threat in South Korea, for sure,” said Tiger Shaw, CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “He has the speed, talent and experience to win, and he’s tasted podium success already on the world stage, so not having him on our team in PyeongChang is clearly disappointing, but he will recover and he will have many opportunities to win in the future.
“Looking at the team overall, in Ted Ligety and Steven Nyman, we have two more experienced, world class athletes flying the US flag in international men’s alpine competition, and we have some exciting talent coming through the ranks which bodes well for the future. Bryce Bennett, for example, has been showing good consistency this season, as has Jared Goldberg, and now we also have the exciting talent of River Radamus coming through -- a young racer who has just taken part in his first World Cup event. We have a lot to look forward to but, for now, our focus is on achieving our targets across the team in South Korea.”
Travis Ganong knows how to pick a line down a racecourse and in the backcountry, but it was the line set by his older sisters, Megan and Ali, that helped reel him into ski racing. He launched his World Cup career in 2010 and has quickly become a leading member of the future downhill greats club.
Teammate Steven Nyman called it in Dec. 2012 when he told Ganong “you’ve got next” after Nyman won the famed Saslong downhill (for the second time) in Val Gardena, Italy. Ganong believed in Steven by warming up for the Olympics with downhill seventh and super G sixth in Kitzbuehel, a personal best World Cup weekend. He then trumped his own deck in Sochi by notching fifth in the Olympic downhill to lead the U.S. Ski Team, which included heavy favorite Bode Miller. The taste was sweet, but Ganong wanted top three and knew he had the ability to make it happen. So he did. Just one week after the Olympics, the young man from Squaw Valley finished third in a World Cup super G in Kvitfjell, Norway to cap his best ever World Cup season and safely stake his claim as one of the next great American downhillers.
Ganong really did have next—just after teammate Nyman snagged his hat trick victory in Val Gardena, Ganong made the big leap to the top of the podium this season, snagging the victory at the Santa Caterina downhill. From there, Ganong went on to crush it at Vail/Beaver Creek World Championships, with a second place finish in front of a massive crowd and ended up a career best 11th ranked in the downhill standings. Ganong started the 2016 season off with a bang in Lake Louise, finishing 3rd in downhill and 4th in super G. He would go on to snag six top 10 World Cup finishes.
Growing up minutes from Squaw Valley, he found himself in the Mighty Mites peewee program as a tyke. He devoured the opportunity. “Cliffs, chutes, pillow-lines, arcin’ turns down the Dog Leg! I couldn’t get enough,” he recalls. With his sisters showing the way, he got into the race program. He pointed to his sister Megan’s time on the U.S. Ski Team and said he wanted to follow her lead.
There isn't much 'off snow' for Ganong, who is the first to grab his fat boards on a race cancelation day. Big Mountain skiing is what it's all about and what a better place to learn than Squaw Valley. "I love freeskiing and big mountain skiing just as much as racing, and they both kind of help out the other."
