But Charly is not letting his older brother's success skew his personal goals. As Ligety firmly maintains, his goal is "to be a successful collegiate athlete with the Dartmouth ski team." Nothing more.
The Utah native speaks with modesty when asked about his own career, but Charly is quietly building an impressive skiing resume of his own. The younger Ligety has two top 10 finishes and nine top 25 finishes over the course of 20 slalom and giant-slalom races in the past two years.
While Charly denies any longings to attain the international success of his brother, he cannot deny the impact that Ted has had on his skiing technique.
"He has taught me a lot about having a strong work ethic. He sometimes gives me advice when I am freeskiing with him back home in Park City. He is a good coach."
Above all else, Charly has absorbed Ted's unquenchable drive to win.
"He has always been very competitive in everything he does," Charly said. "He works his ass off in the summer. He goes to the gym in the morning, eats, bikes, eats, plays tennis or basketball, eats and goes to bed. He has said that he has a full-time job, and that is working out and exercising all day long."
In the sport of ski racing, natural ability alone is not enough to achieve greatness. The Ligety brothers have risen to the top of their sport because their determination to train and compete is well above the curve.
"He has taught me about the intensity and focus that is behind success," Charly said, acknowledging the example that his brother has set for him.
Charly has always been impressed by his brother's ability but admits that he is surprised when he considers Ted's rise to the pinnacle of his sport at this juncture of his skiing career. Charly speculates on Ted's accomplishments as a 21-year-old with a sense of awe.
"He has been consistently successful in ski racing, but I did not expect Ted to be this successful, this soon. He has climbed through the rankings in the ski racing world at a very rapid speed, and it was not until the start of this world cup season that I got the feeling he was capable of getting a medal in the Olympics."
When asked whether he ever imagined his brother and training partner becoming an Olympic champion, Charly hesitated and eventually admitted, "I don't know ... I knew he was good, but I am still in disbelief over the recent win."
Ted's success in the combined caught his little brother especially off guard. The combined event is decided by the cumulative times of two slalom races and a downhill speed run.
"He is not very good at speed events," Charly said.
Ted was in 34th place after the downhill portion but made up for lost time with two inspired slalom runs. The champion, himself, admitted some surprise after winning the event, telling reporters, "I'm not very good in downhill."
For Charly, the hardest part of the week has been the separation from his family, while his brother's hard work is finally coming to fruition.
"It is depressing in some ways because I feel left out of the excitement, especially being here in the middle of nowhere," Charly said with a laugh of admiration. "My parents are behind the scenes on set with the Today Show and Good Morning America, and I am here studying for an Earth Sciences midterm. But, I will be going over to [Torino] to watch the slalom in a couple of days, and that will be very exciting."
Above all, Charly is confident that his relationship with his brother will not be changed by recent prosperity.
"I don't think [our relationship] will change. I talked to him after he won, and although he is now an Olympic gold medalist, he is still the same old big brother I have always had."
In addition to the combined event, Ted is scheduled to compete in the giant slalom on Feb. 20 and the slalom on Feb. 25.
