Two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety plans to retire from World Cup ski racing after the world championships.
Ligety’s final race will be the giant slalom on Feb. 19 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Known for his smooth, technical racing, Ligety won a surprise gold medal in the combined at the 2006 Turin Olympics and another gold medal eight years later in the giant slalom at the Sochi Games as the favorite.
His storied career also includes five wins at world championships, 25 World Cup victories and five season-long World Cup giant slalom titles. Ligety’s dominance in the giant slalom once led Austrian skiing great Marcel Hirscher to pronounce him “Mr. GS.”
The retirement plans of the 36-year-old Ligety include spending more time with his family at home in Park City, Utah. He and his wife, Mia, have a nearly 4-year-old son along with twin boys, who are 7 months old.
Ligety began his World Cup career on Nov. 22, 2003, with a giant slalom race in Park City. He didn’t qualify for a second run in an event won by Bode Miller.
Over his career, Ligety has made 336 World Cup starts and finished on the podium 52 times spanning all disciplines. That all-around versatility has long been a point of pride for Ligety, who started skiing at 2 and racing by 11.
In addition to family time, Ligety will stay busy by running his ski-gear company called “Shred.” He launched the company after the 2006 Olympics and many competitors on the circuit can be seen wearing his innovative “Shred” ski goggles, helmets, sunglasses, gloves and outerwear.
He still may drop into a competition every once in a while on the World Pro Ski Tour, a unique circuit featuring a format of side-by-side racing at venues closer to his home.
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