BORMIO, Italy — I won Saturday’s giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, to regain the World Cup GS lead with one race left.
I’m really psyched about my position. It’s nice not to have to beat Austria’s Benjamin Raich and Italy’s Manfred Moelgg — who are second and third in the standings. I just have to be right there with them in Thursday’s race.
My lead of 27 points is not a comfortable one by any means. If Raich wins, I have to finish second to claim the title. If I hadn’t crashed Jan. 5 in Adelboden, Switzerland, I would almost have it wrapped up.
Winning my first discipline title is far from guaranteed, but I’m excited that I’m skiing well going into the race. Winning last week is a big lift to take into the final race.
Winning a discipline title has been one of my biggest goals. It means you were good throughout a whole season. Winning at the Olympics or world championships means you were the best that day, but winning a season title is way more special in a lot of ways: It means you were able to keep your head together and ski well, race after race, which is really hard to do.
We’ll be racing on a hill in Bormio, site of the 2005 world championships, and I’m excited about it. It’s one of the more technical hills, and that favors me. It starts out pretty steep and has a little bit of a flat in the middle. Then it’s pretty steep and rolling toward the finish line.
It’s a real GS skier’s hill, as is Kranjska Gora. It’s good to have the GS season wrapping up on courses that are worthy of the event.
Ted Ligety, the Olympic combined
champion, leads the World
Cup giant slalom standings and
reports regularly from the tour in
collaboration with Denver Post
ski writer John Meyer.
