Swiss freestyle skier

Fanny Smith (born 20 May 1992) is a Swiss freestyle skier. She represented Switzerland at the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 Winter Olympics. As of 2021, she has 29 victories and has won 56 podiums on the World Cup circuit. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang as well as the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Smith won a bronze medal. She won gold at the World Championships in Voss in 2013.

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 *istance 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 compe*ion for 11 months.

She returned to compe*ion 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 return to ski cross, she took the Gold Medal at the World Championships in Voss, Norway.

The 2013–2014 season began well with Smith securing second place in the first race in Nakiska. She won the *le 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.

In the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Smith won the bronze medal in the women's ski cross compe*ion.

In the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Smith initially finished third place in the women's ski cross final. However, she was demoted to fourth place after receiving a yellow card as Smith was deemed to have moved her left ski directly into the line of her compe*or, Daniela Maier. Nine days after the race, Smith was awarded the bronze medal after a successful appeal with the International Ski Federation (FIS). The FIS stated that Smith should have been issued a warning instead of a yellow card. With the appeal verdict, Smith has won Olympic bronze medals in back-to-back Winter Games.

References

External links

• Official website
• Fanny Smith at FIS (alpine)
• Fanny Smith at FIS (freestyle)
• Fanny Smith at Olympedia
• Fanny Smith at the X Games