Olympic plans gone, injured skier Gagnon stays positive

Marie-Michele Gagnon has already wrapped her head around the fact she will miss the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

In rehab from knee and shoulder surgery, the Canadian alpine skier sounds upbeat and is looking ahead rather than dwelling on the setback.

The 28-year-old from LacEtchemin, Que., tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and dislocated her left shoulder in a Nov. 30 crash during training for the World Cup in Lake Louise.

“I’ve definitely had some time to ponder it,” she said Wednesday. “For sure it’s disappointing to be hurt at any time, for sure in an Olympic year even more disappointing.

“I would say we are lucky that our sport, alpine skiing, it’s not just about the Olympics. It’s a sport that has been ingrained in the culture in Europe for many, many years.

“For this time, I have to give up my Olympic dream for this cycle but I have four more years after that and I want to make it to the next Olympics, so it’s not over as far as the Olympics goes for me.”

Her season is done, however, and it held some real promise. She finished 10th in a slalom in Levi, Finland and 24th in a giant slalom in Killington, Vt. And she was putting down a top-five training run when she caught an edge and wound up in the safety net.

She popped her shoulder back in place following the crash — she has injured it several times — and didn’t think the knee injury was too severe until an MRI in Calgary revealed the complete tear.