Michael McCormack Lafferty (born May 20, 1948) is a former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

from the

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. He specialized in downhill and had two World Cup podiums and eleven top ten finishes, all in downhill. His best finish in the World Cup season standings was in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

: third in downhill and ninth overall.

Early years

Born in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, Lafferty was the third and youngest son of Paul and Jean Lafferty. His father Paul (1910–92) was a college ski team coach in the 1930s and an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the famed

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of the

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. Lafferty learned to ski at

Willamette Pass Willamette Pass () is a mountain pass crossing the crest of the Cascade Range in Oregon, United States. It is less commonly known as Willamette Summit. The pass is traversed by Oregon Route 58 and by Union Pacific's (ex-Southern Pacific) Casca ...

and raced as a junior for the Bend Skyliners at Mt. Bachelor. Following graduation from

South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. History The school was founded as Eugene High School in 1903, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later se ...

in 1966, he followed his brother Peter to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

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, as a member of Beta Theta Pi. He raced for the Buffaloes for two years until named to the "B team" of the U.S. Ski Team in December 1968, then promoted to the "A team" later that month.

Racing career

Lafferty's first top ten result in a World Cup race was in December

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, with a fifth place in a downhill at

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...

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. At the

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in Japan, Lafferty finished 14th in the downhill. Two years earlier, he was 31st at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

in Italy. Lafferty's best World Cup result was his first podium, a runner-up finish at Crystal Mountain,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, in February 1972, the first event after the Olympics. The next day he had a fourth-place finish in another downhill and ascended another podium in Italy a few weeks later. Before the Olympics, he finished just off the podium in mid-January with a fourth place at storied

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

. His third-place finish in the World Cup downhill season standings in 1972 was the best by an American male until

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, when

Daron Rahlves Daron Louis Rahlves (born June 12, 1973) is a former American FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and freestyle skiing, freestyle skier. Biography Born in Walnut Creek, California, Walnut Creek, California, and ...

finished second. (Other third-place finishers were Bill Johnson in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and A.J. Kitt in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

.) Rahlves finished second again in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is an Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and List of Alpine Skiing world champions, World Championship gold me ...

was also second in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Through

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, a U.S. male has yet to win the season title in the downhill discipline.

After racing

Following his final season in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, Lafferty returned to Oregon to help manage the family's successful cold storage business in Eugene and Albany. He briefly raced on the pro circuit in North America.

World Cup results

Season standings

Points were only awarded for top ten finishes (see scoring system).

Top ten finishes

* 2 podiums - (2 DH) * 11 top tens - (11 DH)

References

External links

*
Mike Lafferty
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * *
University of Colorado Olympians
– 1972 Sapporo – alpine skiing – Michael Lafferty

– about us
Getty Images
– 1972 Winter Olympics – alpine skiing – Mike Lafferty {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafferty, Mike 1948 births Living people American male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for the United States Alpine skiers at the 1972 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon 20th-century American sportsmen