American Downhiller and two-time World Cup winner Travis Ganong suffered a season-ending knee 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 United States established that Ganong sustained an ACL tear to his right knee.

“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. “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.”

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“Travis was a medal threat in South Korea, for sure,” said CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard Tiger Shaw. “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 U.S. flag in international men’s alpine competition, and we have some exciting talent coming through the ranks which bodes well for the future,” continued Shaw. “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.”

Ganong joins a list of notable World Cup athletes that have suffered season-ending injuries this season that includes his girlfriend, Canada’s Marie-Michelle Gagnon, who also suffered a torn ACL after a downhill crash in Lake Louise in November.

Release courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.