Ted Ligety Girlfriend Mia Pascoe Behind Ligety’s Gold Medal Win

Ted Ligety Girlfriend Mia Pascoe Behind Ligety’s Gold Medal Win
Zachary Stieber
2/19/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

Ted Ligety’s longtime girlfriend Mia Pascoe is one of the main people behind his win, also being a longtime supporter of the star competitor.

Ligety was disappointed after not even cracking the top 10 in his first two events at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Even worse was that this poor showing followed being shut out at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Pascoe emphasized to Ligety that he should focus on the competition and not what people were saying about him.

“Ted was reading everything on the Internet; it’s something he likes to do,” she told the New York Times. “He saw every article. I told him to stop reading. The Internet is kind of spotty here anyway.”

The advice really helped. 

“He woke up today the calmest I have seen him since we arrived in Russia,” Pascoe said. “He was Ted. He was going to do what he does.”

Ligety went on to win the gold in his third and final event, the men’s giant slalom. He is the first American to ever do so.

News Photo: Gold medalist Ted Ligety of the United States…

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

News Photo: Ted Ligety of the USA wins the gold…

(Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

News Photo: Ted Ligety of the USA wins the gold…

(Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

Previously, he came onto the world stage as a gold medal winner in combined at the 2006 Winter Games. He’s known as one of the best giant slalom skiers in the world.

For Ligety, 29, this may be his last Olympics. But he’s still a daredevil. He and his United States ski teammates were known for buying heavily used cars while training in New Zealand and launching them off ramps in an empty lot, as well as playing bumper cars.

“I’m certainly not worried what Ted will do with himself when he stops racing,” Pascoe, who lives with Ligety in Park City, Utah, told the Times. “He doesn’t sit still. He’s always got a project going.”

Pascoe is a former University of Colorado soccer player who met Ligety at a college part of ski racers.

For instance, Ligety and a partner started a helmet, goggles, and sunglasses company in 2006--Shred Optics--which he still keeps his hands on. The company supplies about a third of the U.S. Ski Team.

Part of that entails checking in on some of the 300 stores that carry his products.