Ted Collects his 3rd Globe in 4 years

Flying under the radar seems to be Ted Ligety’s MO.

Who can go season after season, winning alpine skiing crystal globes, winning championships, Olympics and just generally dominating an entire discipline, and not be hounded by the tabloid press? OK OK, Ligety ain’t no Lindsey Lohan whose every move is documented, but damn, just look at these stats:

2010-2011:

• 3 X regular sesason 1st place finishes  in GS;
• 1 X Garmisch World Championships GS title;
• 3rd place GS finish;
• 3rd place National Championships;
• 7 X top 10 finished.

2009-2010:

• 5 X podium performances;
• 1 X 1st place finish;

Other stats:

• 3 X GS crystal globe in 4 years.
• Olympic Champion
• World Championship podium

Anyone with a resume like that deserves to be celebrated and regarded as one of the sport’s top performers. But then again, it’s Ligety himself who takes it all in nonchalant stride. After the final GS race was cancelled due to unfavorable conditions, Ligety received a text message from U.S. men’s ski team head coach Sasha Rearick with the news. “I woke up to a text from Sasha — then rolled over and went back to sleep. The coaches then asked me to come down for a little champagne,” he said. I reckon most would break out into jubilant celebration after receiving such news. But Ligety? He can do without all that… he prefers to simply ski to the level he believes he is capable and beyond that, he’d rather just sleep.

Very refreshing in today’s age of narcissism, when just about everyone and their mother is looking for a little piece of the 15 minutes of fame.

Ted Ligety: here’s to you! Congratulations on another killer season. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next!

Back on the bike after two years. I had some little kid yelling slow poke at me down at MMA. It was classic. Watching those little kids throw themselves over jumps when they probably just learned how to walk is so motivating. I love doing millions of different activities and challenging myself. Off season is perfect for picking up a lot of those activities and just having fun with it!

There’s been a lot of buzz around the World Cup lately. Not only is it Finals time in Lenzerheide Switzerland, but also, racers have united in a big way to lend their support to the disaster stricken country of Japan.

Many — including our very own Ted Ligety — have pledged to donate portions of their prize money to charities selected by Japanese racer Akira Sasaki. Ted has pledged 50% of his winnings.

Skiers Helping Japan is the organization that has grown out of the hard work of Akira Sasaki, Julia Mancuso, Chemmy Alcott, and Kazuko Ikeda Boeker.

Julia pledged 50% of her prize money and lo-and-behold has ALREADY WON 1ST in Wednesday’s Downhill. That’s some BIG BUCKS

Ted shares a message with Japan

Now, with racers anteing up and making pledges like Ted and Julia have, it makes the competition EVEN MORE EXCITING. It’s time for everyone who loves ski racing to tune in and WATCH.

In the USA, you can watch the races live on Universal Sports. In Europe, well you’ve got it all on TV. Now more than ever…

GO TED!