Theodore Sharp Ligety (born August 31, 1984) is a retired American alpine ski racer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and an entrepreneur, having cofounded Shred Optics. Ligety won the combined event at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and the giant slalom race at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He is also a five-time World Cup champion in giant slalom (2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014). Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships. He successfully defended his world title in giant slalom in 2013 in Schladming, Austria, where he also won an unexpected gold medal in the super-G and a third gold medal in the super combined.
Ligety planned to participate in the 2021 World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo but withdrew due to an injury, which prompted his retirement from ski racing in early February, 2021. He finished his career with 25 victories (24 in giant slalom and 1 super combined) and 52 podiums in World Cup competition. His Olympic giant slalom gold medal, 24 GS World Cup wins, 3 GS world championship gold medals and 5 World Cup titles put him among the three greatest giant slalom skiers of all time, according to Ski-DB.
