WINTER PARK — Tommy Ford used a blazing second run on mushy snow to defend his giant slalom title at the U.S. championships, edging Tim Jitloff and favorite Ted Ligety.
Ford, of Bend, Ore., flew through the course in a combined time of 2 minutes, 22.24 seconds Thursday, holding off Jitloff by .09 seconds. Ford won the giant slalom, slalom and combined at nationals last spring.
Ligety entered the race as the skier to beat after capturing his second straight World Cup GS title this season. He led after the first run, but got caught up in a gate during his second trip, costing him time and dropping him into third place, .30 seconds behind Ford.
With that, Ligety’s championships are over. He won’t compete in the super-G or slalom later this weekend.
