BEND — A little more than a year after suffering a devastating knee injury and being airlifted from a Swiss mountainside, Bend skier Tommy Ford is writing the ultimate comeback story: He’s headed to his third Winter Olympics.

Ford, 32 and a lifelong Bend resident, was included among the six men named to the U.S. Olympic Alpine Team by U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Friday, Jan. 21. The Beijing Games are set for Feb. 4-20, and the men’s giant slalom, Ford’s specialty, is scheduled for Feb. 13.

Ford has reached the Olympics again after enduring four surgeries and a concussion he is still recovering from.

“This is such a cool opportunity!” Ford was quoted in a Friday press release from U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “I’m stoked to be a part of the team. It is freeing to be able to do what I know how to do with the support of those who believe in it.”

Ford’s nomination to the team comes as somewhat of a surprise because he has not raced at all on the World Cup this season. In fact, he has not raced a World Cup since Jan. 9, 2021, when he had a horrific crash in Adelboden, Switzerland, in the midst of a banner year. He was knocked unconscious and suffered significant injuries to his knee, wrist and head.

The past year has been a painful, often emotional challenge for Ford, who has dealt with bouts of depression while simultaneously rehabilitating his knee so he can return to racing.

Before the crash, Ford had posted four World Cup top-10 results in giant slalom in the 2020-21 season, including a podium finish. He was on his way to one of the best seasons of his long career.

Ford said he tore two ligaments in his right knee, broke his tibial plateau and tore his meniscus. After his surgeries, he spent most of the offseason home in Bend recovering.

“I’m feeling more and more normal,” Ford said in an interview with The Bulletin one month ago. “I’m able to ski in a comfortable way, and I’m just trying to push back into some training and run some gates. The knee’s been feeling really good and responding really well to training.”

Ford was first able to get back on snow in mid-November at the U.S. Ski Team training camp in Copper, Colorado.

“That was wonderful,” he said. “The first couple days were pretty slow, just sliding around and getting comfortable. Once I started to go faster and link some turns, it was a really neat reminder of why I ski.”

Ford — who grew up racing for the Bend-based Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation — competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Racing in giant slalom, he finished 26th at Vancouver and 20th at Pyeongchang. He did not compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, because he was recovering from a broken leg he suffered while freeskiing in France.

Joining Ford on the U.S. men’s alpine team are Bryce Bennett, of Tahoe City, California; Ryan Cochran-Siegle, of Starksboro, Vermont; Travis Ganong, of Alpine Meadows, California; River Radamus, of Edwards, Colorado, and Luke Winters, of Gresham.

Cochran-Siegle — who won his first World Cup in December 2021 in Bormio, Italy — headlines the crew of veteran athletes and first-time Olympians. Bennett, who won the downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, last month, will be making his second Olympic appearance in Beijing.

The U.S. women’s alpine team is led by two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, of Edwards, Colorado, a medal threat in both technical and speed disciplines. Shiffrin has established herself as one of the greatest skiers of all time at just 26. She enters the Beijing Games as a three-time Olympic medalist, with slalom gold from the 2014 Games and a giant slalom gold and alpine combined silver in 2018.

Joining Shiffrin is teammate Breezy Johnson, of Victor, Idaho, who is currently ranked second in the world in the downhill standings and has amassed three downhill podiums in the 2021-22 season.

Ford’s longtime girlfriend, Laurenne Ross — a two-time Olympian who lives in Bend — retired from professional ski racing at the end of last season.