Canadian skier Marie-Michèle Gagnon to retire at end of World Cup season
Quebecer will cap career with most World Cup starts in Canadian history, 5 podiums
Three-time Canadian Olympian Marie-Michèle Gagnon has announced she will retire from alpine ski racing at the conclusion of the World Cup season.
The 33-year-old from Lac-Etchemin, Que., is the lone established downhiller on the country's women's team, and will bow out with more than 270 World Cup starts — the most by a Canadian skier.
Coming off a crash in the downhill event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Gagnon will not compete in this weekend's downhill competition at the world championships in Meribel, France, but will continue on in super-G events for the remainder of the World Cup season.
She said pulling out of the downhill was not an easy decision.
"I was really putting a lot of emphasis on this race and the world championships, but unfortunately after the crash in Cortina ... I didn't get my confidence back," Gagnon said Friday. "It was clear to me once I did the first training run for downhill, and even in the Super-G, I was not myself. I was not clear in my head and not really wanting to take risks. This is not the version of myself that I really want to show."
WATCH | Gagnon wins World Cup bronze in 2021:
Gagnon says her retirement plans have been months in the making.
"I was sure by December ... before the bulk of the season and most of the races," she said. "[The retirement] is not related to results or this crash in Cortina.
"It was more this feeling that it is time."
Pair of World Cup gold medals
Gagnon won five World Cup medals in her career, including gold in alpine combined in both 2014 and 2016.
She placed eighth in women's downhill at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and has finished in the top-10 at five world championships.
Gagnon's eight Olympic alpine ski racing starts is tied for the most ever by a Canadian woman.
Along with over 270 World Cup starts, she has 23 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships starts, also more than any other Canadian.
Gagnon is engaged to American ski racer Travis Ganong.
