Ted Ligety skiing with his three-year-old twins at Deer Valley, Utah, is exactly as relatable as it sounds — the two-time Olympic gold medalist shared GoPro footage of magic carpet rides, pizza turns, tumbles, and one very honest toddler opinion about the whole experience. In the heartwarming video, the twins — Willy, and Alec (nicknamed Ozzie) — are pictured on the magic carpet and making pizza turns with their mom and dad, including some falls, as the tired little toddler legs give way. Towards the end of the video as Willy is skiing between his dad’s legs, the cute toddler says, “I hate going skiing,” causing Ligety to chuckle.
Ligety won the Alpine combined at Turin 2006 and the giant slalom at Sochi 2014, becoming the first American man to win Olympic gold in that event. He is also a five-time World Cup giant slalom champion and won five World Championship gold medals, including a historic triple gold at the 2013 World Championships in Schladming — the first skier to win three golds at a single championships since Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. He retired from competitive skiing in 2021 after back injuries made it unsafe to continue, finishing with 25 World Cup victories and 52 podiums.
His back injuries were definitely not helped by hours of bending over to help Ozzie and Willy. “And I thought racing was hard on my back,” the retired ski racer wrote on his Instagram account.
It’s good to know that even a legendary ski racer like Ligety goes through the same struggles as everyone else when it comes to teaching ski with little kids.
We feel your pain, Ted, we do!
