Fanny Smith

Fanny Smith (born 20 May 1992) is a Swiss freestyle skier. She represented Switzerland at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics.[1] She has won 52 podiums on the World Cup circuit and 27 victories, making her the most successful athlete in the history of the sport (male or female).[2][3] At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Smith won a bronze medal. She won gold at the World Championships in Voss in 2013.

Fanny Smith
Smith in 2011
Personal information
NationalitySwiss
Born (1992-05-20) 20 May 1992
Aigle, Switzerland
Websitewww.fanny-smith.com
Sport
CountrySwitzerland
SportFreestyle skiing
Event(s)Ski Cross
ClubVillars- Gryon
Achievements and titles
World finals2013, 2015, 2017, 2019
Olympic finals2010,2018

Career

Born in Aigle to an American father and English mother, she was brought up in the Swiss ski resort of Villars. Smith has been skiing since the age of two, and at the age of 14 she was selected into the Swiss National Educational Performance Center of Brig. When she graduated in 2009, there was no Swiss junior ski cross program, so with the assistance of family and sponsors, Smith created her own program. Smith started to train with Guillaume Nantermod, the Bordercross World Champion, and after their partnership immediately showed signs of success, they were integrated into the Swiss National Team.

At just 17 years old, Smith secured her first World Cup podium position, with second place at the Lake Placid World Cup in January 2010. Her first win came a year later in Innichen/San Candido. She took two more second places in the 2010–11 season, but fell and tore her anterior cruciate ligament, forcing her out of competition for 11 months.

She returned to competition aged 22, and dominated the 2012–13 season, winning the first three races of the year, taking four victories, on the podium in six out of the ten races, and won the Crystal Globe as the world's top-ranked ski cross racer. To top her perfect return to ski cross she took the Gold Medal at the World Championships in Voss, Norway.

The 2013–2014 began well with Smith securing second 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 Ophélie David. Smith finished in second place in the 2014 overall World Cup standings.

References

  1. "Fanny Smith, Freestyle Skiing". Vancouver 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  2. "Fanny Smith, Results". FIS Ski. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  3. Knight, Matthew; Macfarlane, Christina (6 February 2014). "Fanny Smith: Ski cross champion defies odds in quest for Olympic gold". CNN. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
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