Theodore Sharp "Ted" Ligety (born August 31, 1984) is an American alpine ski racer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and an entrepreneur, having cofounded Shred Optics. Ligety won the combined event at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and the giant slalom race at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He is also a five-time World Cup champion in giant slalom (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014). Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships. He successfully defended his world title in giant slalom in 2013 in Schladming, Austria, where he also won an unexpected gold medal in the super-G and a third gold medal in the super combined. Through October, 2015, he has 25 victories (24 in giant slalom and 1 super combined) and 51 podiums in World Cup competition.\n', '

His Olympic giant slalom gold medal, 24 GS World Cup wins, 3 GS world championship gold medals and 5 World Cup titles make him one of the greatest giant slalom skiers of all time.\n', '

Ligety was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of Cyndi Sharp and Bill Ligety, who are real estate agents. He grew up in Park City and began skiing at two and racing at ten. He attended The Winter Sports School and graduated in 2002. Ligety was named to the U.S. Skiing Development Team and won a silver medal in slalom in the Junior World Championships in 2004. He made his first start in a World Cup event during the 2004 World Cup season in the giant slalom at Park City. In the summer of 2004, Ligety and U.S. Ski Team head coach Sasha Rearick studied Fu Style Tai Chi. The next winter in the 2005 season, Ligety was added to the U.S. Ski Team full-time, during which he had four top-15 finishes in slalom, placing 24th overall in the discipline.\n', '

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