BEAVER CREEK — Some ski racers have a hard time seeing beyond the next finish line or their next endorsement payday, but Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety isn’t one of them.
Needing to work the lactate out of his legs on a spin bike after the first run of Sunday’s World Cup giant slalom and tend to the other things that occupy racers between runs, Ligety took time to sign dozens of autographs for youngsters gathered at the exit of the finish corral.
Unlike some racers, Ligety understands a skier’s sphere of influence extends beyond the tips of his skis.
“I was one of those kids,” Ligety said later after finishing second, his second GS podium in two races this season. “I used to be an autograph hound. That was important to me then, and I remember the guys who didn’t stop and the guys who did stop. I feel like it’s good to be one of the guys who does stop.”
Ligety was third in the season’s first GS, Oct. 26 in Soelden, Austria. Sunday, he missed out on capturing his first World Cup win on American snow by .01 of a second behind Benjamin Raich of Austria.
“It’s fantastic to be on the podium here,” said Ligety, who has three career GS wins. “Even though I was second, it’s still a really good day. I’m super-psyched and proud of the way I skied. It’s nice to be able to do it in front of the home crowd and finally get a podium for the U.S.”
The Americans are accustomed to scoring podiums here, but they were shut out in Friday’s downhill and Saturday’s super-G.
Ligety had the fastest first run, but the second run course set didn’t suit him. Ligety is best in the technical disciplines (slalom and GS), and the second run course was set more like a super-G.
“We were real close to a big win today,” said U.S. Ski Team head men’s coach Sasha Rearick. “He skied a fantastic first run, he skied really well on the second run. He lost some (time) on the bottom, I think he might have been a little conservative down there. It was very straight, and you had to keep the skis in the fall line.”
Ligety was seventh in Saturday’s super-G, a career best in that discipline.
“Both runs were really super-G sets,” Ligety said of Sunday’s race. “This run was just full fall line, and obviously not my specialty.”
Bode Miller was fifth-fastest in the first run but went out of the course on the second run. In seven races this season, the defending World Cup overall champion has three “did not finish” results and only one podium, a second-place finish in slalom at Levi, Finland, Nov. 16. He’s 13th in the overall standings. Ligety is tied for sixth.
Racers have a lot to do between giant slalom runs. They spin, grab something to eat, focus mentally on what they need to do in the second run, inspect the course and warm up. Many don’t make time for fans between runs, and when Ligety did Sunday, it meant a lot.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” said Nicole Wagner, an 11-year-old racer from Silverthorne, “because he’s like a big-time racer and he didn’t have to do that.”
World Cup men’s giant slalom
At the Birds of Prey course
Beaver Creek
1, Benjamin Raich, Austria, 2 minutes, 24.61 seconds (1:12.36-1:12.25). 2, Ted Ligety, United States, 2:24.62 (1:11.31-1:13.31). 3, Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 2:24.71 (1:12.00-1:12.71). 4, Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 2:24.76 (1:12.72-
1:12.04). 5, Davide Simoncelli, Italy, 2:24.92 (1:12.41-1:12.51). 6, Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 2:25.19 (1:11.87-1:13.32). 7, Didier Defago, Switzerland, 2:25.36 (1:12.40-1:12.96). 8, Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 2:25.47 (1:12.72-1:12.75). 9, Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 2:25.82 (1:13.07-1:12.75). 9, Jean-Baptiste Grange, France, 2:25.82 (1:12.79-1:13.03).
11, Ales Gorza, Slovakia, 2:25.90 (1:12.51-1:13.39). 12, Massimiliano Blardone, Italy, 2:26.05 (1:12.32-1:13.73). 13, Thomas Fanara, France, 2:26.08 (1:12.98-1:13.10). 14, Romed Baumann, Austria 2:26.51 (1:13.48-1:13.03). 15, Marcel Hirscher, Austria, 2:26.55 (1:13.28-1:13.27). 16, Stephan Goergl, Austria, 2:26.77 (1:13.38-1:13.39). 17, Markus Larsson, Sweden, 2:26.88 (1:13.36-1:13.52). 18, Cyprien Richard, France, 2:26.99 (1:12.98-
1:14.01). 19, Joel Chenal, France, 2:27.03 (1:13.74-1:13.29). 20, Manfred Moelgg, Italy, 2:27.10 (1:12.34-1:14.76).
21, Jean-Philippe Roy, Canada, 2:27.24 (1:13.66-1:13.58). 22, Krystof Kryzl, CZE, 2:27.35 (1:13.59-1:13.76). 23, Thomas Frey, France, 2:27.67 (1:13.69-1:13.98). 24, Tim Jitloff, United States, 2:28.12 (1:13.32-1:14.80). 25, Truls Ove Karlsen, Norway, 2:28,35 (1:13,82-1:14,53).
Also
Daniel Albrecht, Switerzland; Cristoph Gruber, Austria; Marc Berthod, Switzerland; Bode Miller, United States and Marcus Sandell, Finland, didn’t finish second run.
World Cup standings
1, Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 345 points. 2, Hermann Maier, Austria, 216. 3, Didier Defago, Switzerland, 198. 4, Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 196. 5, Benjamin Raich, Austria, 193. 6, Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 185. 6, Ted Ligety, United States, 185. 8, Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 175. 9, Peter Fill, Italy, 159. 9, Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 159.
11, Jean-Baptiste Grange, France, 151. 12, Erik Guay, Canada, 142. 13, Bode Miller, United States, 139. 14, John Kucera, Canada, 120. 15, Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 116. 16, Klaus Kroell, Austria, 113. 17, Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 112. 18, Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 109. 19, Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 86. 20, Georg Streitberger, Austria, 79.
World Cup women’s super-G
At Lake Louise, Alberta
1. Nadia Fanchini, Italy, 1 minute, 20.97 seconds. 2. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 1:21.25. 2. Andrea Fischbacher, Austria, 1:21.25. 4. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:21.31. 5. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, Sweden, 1:21.46. 6. Emily Brydon, Canada, 1:21.50. 7. Kelly VanderBeek, Canada, 1:21.55. 8. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1:21.56. 9. Lindsey Vonn, United States, 1:21.57. 10. Nadia Styger, Switzerland, 1:21.60.
11. Andrea Dettling, Switzerland, 1:21.63. 12. Britt Janyk, Canada, 1:21.65. 13. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 1:21.77. 14. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 1:21.91. 15. Maria Holaus, Austria, 1:22.12. 16. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, Switzerland, 1:22.25. 17. Leanne Smith, U.S., 1:22.27. 18. Sarka Zahrobska, Czech Republic, 1:22.28. 19. Nicole Schmidhofer, Austria, 1:22.35. 20. Marie Marchand-Arvier, France, 1:22.37.
World Cup standings
1. Lindsey Vonn, United States, 358 points. 2. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 260. 3. Maria Riesch, Germany, 202. 4. Maria Pietilae-Holmner, Sweden, 196. 5. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 190. 6. Andrea Fischbacher, Austria, 185. 7. Nadia Fanchini, Italy, 180. 8. Sarka Zahrobska, Czech Republic, 156. 9. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 154. 10. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 153.
11. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 105. 12. Tessa Worley, France, 100. 13. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 91. 14. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 87. 15. Emily Brydon, Canada, 76. 15. Kathrin Hoelzl, Germany, 76. 17. Marion Bertrand, France, 68. 18. Denis Karbon, Italy 18. Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 66. 20. Maria Holaus, Austria, 61.
World Cup cross country
At La Clusaz, France
Men
4X10K MIXED STYLE
(CLASSIC AND FREESTYLE)
1. Norway (Tor Arne Hetland, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Petter Northug), 1 hour, 39 minutes, 1 second. 2. Sweden (Daniel Rickardsson, Johan Olsson, Anders Soedergren, Marcus Hellner), 2.2 seconds behind. 3. France (Jean Marc Gaillard, Vincent Vittoz, Maurice Manificat, Emmanuel Jonnier), 6.6. 4. Italy, 1:01.4. 5. Finland, 1:25.9. 6. Czech Republic, 1:33.6. 7. Germany, 1:43.8. 8. Kazakhstan, 1:47.5. 9. Switzerland, 2:13.8. 10. Russia, 2:38.8.
Women
4X5K MIXED STYLE
(CLASSIC AND FREESTYLE)
1. Finland (Pirjo Muranen, Virpi Kuitunen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Aino Kaisa Saarinen), 1 hour, 46.3 seconds. 2. Sweden (Lina Andersson, Sara Lindborg, Anna Haag, Charlotte Kalla), 33.4 seconds behind. 3. Norway (Kristin Muerer Stemland, Therese Johaug, Betty-Ann Bjerkreim Nilsen, Kristin Stormer Steira), 34.5. 4. Russia, 46.7. 5. Italy, 1:05.5. 6. Russia B, 2:24.2 7. Kazakhstan, 3:07.9. 8. France, 3:24.4. 9. Poland, 4:29.9. 10. France B, 5:38.4.
