Tanguy Nef

Member Cader B Swiss-Ski Team Slalom

Former Student at Dartmouth College, NH, USA (graduated in 2020)

Completed Internship at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Zürich, Switzerland

Contact email

Hi everyone, welcome to Tanguy Nef’s website.

If you want to know more about me, keep reading.

I started skiing at around the age of 6, on the slopes of central Valais in La Tzoumaz in French-speaking Switzerland. I followed in the footsteps of my family members, which was great! I was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and had a great environment for alpine skiing. I was the third child in a family of four, and my dad was a ski instructor. My older sister, Tamara, and my older brother, Laszlo, had both already started competitive alpine skiing in a club, and I really wanted an orange jacket like theirs. So, at the age of 7, in 2003, I started competing in alpine skiing races in the cadet/minime category.

Since then, I’ve had a lot of success and good times, and I became the first member of the Nef family to win the Grand Prix Migros final (it’s a bit like the Swiss national championships for young people) in Les Diablerets. After that, I was lucky enough to join the national performance center in Brig, in the Valais, to combine skiing and studying. So, I left Geneva at the age of 14 to go skiing and study until the end of middle school/high school. In 2014, I broke my tibia and fibula during a downhill run. So I took stock of my situation and decided to go to the United States to study and continue competitive alpine skiing. So in 2018, I left Switzerland to study at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA. I stayed there until 2021 and earned my bachelor’s degree in computer science.

You see, the culture of sports and academics, and the student environment, is something that really inspires me and will always shape me. It made me a competitive skier, but also a relaxed one. In 2020 (at the age of 23), I won the coveted title of NCAA individual American champion in special slalom and giant slalom in 2021. You know, Swiss Ski followed my progress from afar, and in November 2020, I was selected to compete in my first World Cup in Levi, Finland, in the slalom. It was a real miracle because I didn’t really believe it would happen, and I finished in the top 11 in my first race! You know, that really changed everything for me. Since then, I feel like I could make it to the podium and also win one or more World Cup races.

I’m doing everything I can to become one of the best slalom specialists in the World Cup. And I’m doing my best to stay true to the values I’ve developed throughout my training and career.

At the top, I’d like to win several World Cup races in slalom, and then in giant slalom. And then, if possible, I’d like to win a medal at the Olympic Games and World Championships, as I did in Saalbach in the men’s combined team event with a silver medal. This is the first time a Genevan has won a medal at the Alpine Ski World Championships! For me, the most important thing is to make you dream and thrill you during the races. I can’t wait to share these moments with you and count you among my supporters.

Tanguy Nef