BIOGRAPHY:
Olympian Tommy Ford is one of the fastest movers in ski racing, and the U.S. Ski Team first took notice after he locked four gold medals at the 2006 U.S. Junior Championships. That proved to be a good look, as Ford went on to score World Cup points in his rookie season on the White Circus in addition to making the Olympic team for giant slalom. And the speed trend continues to roll as he's quickly becoming a threat in super G.
Early season frustrations were quickly reversed during the final World Cup weekend prior to the World Championships when Ford shocked the field with a blistering 11th place finish in the Hinterstoder, Austria super G—from bib 65. It quickly became his best World Cup speed result. He then notched a personal best in giant slalom the next day with an 18th.
Despite competing with a banged up hand, Ford charged into the World Championships and continued to impress with 14th in super G, He then continued his streak at the Putnam Investments U.S. Alpine Championships, where he won the super G, combined and giant slalom titles.
TOMMY SAYS:
"It always feels good to end on a high note. After a long season of some good races and some difficult races, it's a good feeling to have success at the end of the season before I start school. I knew it was going to be little rough coming into it so I just tried to remember the old days and put it into the rut as early as I can and stay as fluid as possible. It's hard to have a clean run in those conditions, but I did well with it," Ford said after beating World Champion Ted Ligety in giant slalom at the U.S. Championships. "Ted's been skiing well all year and I've been struggling a little bit. It's just nice to end on that note.
FIRST TRACKS:
Ford grew up in Bend, OR and started to ski at Mt. Bachelor around age two. "My mother and father both raced and coached. My brother also raced so I have been around racing all of my life. I started with MBSEF around the age of seven. From there I just kept having fun and racing." He joined the U.S. Development Team right out of high school and has been climbing the ranks ever since.
OFF THE SNOW:
Ford is into skateboarding, rock climbing, drawing, snapping photos, and mountain biking. Also a big fan of filming and editing, he and teammate Nolan Kasper create short video edits from the road all season and post them on Ford's blog http://onionsontop.tumblr.com/. Look for those to get a bit more sophisticated after Ford completes a film class at Dartmouth in the spring of 2011.
