BEAVER CREEK — Austrian Marcel Hirscher knew it was an achievement to beat the world’s best giant slalom skier, so he gave full props to Ted Ligety after pulling it off Sunday.
Ligety won three of the last four World Cup GS season titles and this season’s first GS race in October. He posted the fastest first run Sunday but finished second to Hirscher by 0.16 of a second.
“To beat Mr. GS is for me very important, because in Austria, Ted is unbreakable,” Hirscher said. “It’s a pretty big success for me to beat him. I think Teddy will be back on Tuesday.”
Thanks to lack of snow in Val d’Isere, France, Ligety will get another chance on home snow here Tuesday. And he will be wearing the red bib, because he still leads the GS standings after two races.
“I’m not disappointed, but I would have been much happier if I would have won,” Ligety said. “After winning the first run, I felt like I had a lot more speed. I felt like I had some room to improve. To not really do that, and get second, is a disappointment. But getting second place is always good.”
And give credit to Hirscher: He was sensational on the second run.
“I saw Hirscher come down, and I was like, wow, that was amazing skiing,” U.S. men’s head coach Sasha Rearick said. “This snow is so aggressive, you have to go deep and clean, and you have to be skiing aggressive the whole way. Hirscher executed it with no bobbles. When I saw that, I was like, oh- oh.”
Ligety got late on a couple of turns toward the end of his run — he was leading at the second of two intermediate splits — and it was just enough to cost him the win.
“The main thing was right on the dead flat where before you come over that last little roll, I just was a little soft with my turn instead of being confident and being clean,” Ligety said. “I definitely ditched some speed in that section.”
Tommy Ford, the only other American to qualify for the second run, finished 22nd. Bode Miller was 48th in the first run.
“Aggressive” snow, in ski racer parlance, is snow that takes an edge and can grab skis, which can surprise racers, as opposed to ice which resists edges. Between runs, Ligety’s skis were de-tuned (the edges were dulled) so they would grab less.
“You can be in a good position, and your skis can hook up really quickly,” Ligety said. “If it’s ice, you can predict what your skis are going to do. Here, little bumps really grab your skis and push them in weird directions you’re not used to.”
Still it was another very good day for the U.S. Ski Team. Miller and Lindsey Vonn won downhills on Friday. On Sunday, Vonn won for the third day in a row in Lake Louise, Alberta, and Julia Mancuso was third.
“I can’t believe it,” alpine director Patrick Riml said. “The boys and girls are doing such amazing jobs, the coaching staff works and prepare the athletes, it’s incredible.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
Podium power
The U.S. Ski Team is on an early-season roll with six wins and nine podium appearances in 12 World Cup races. The list:
Soelden, Austria, Oct. 22-23
Women’s giant slalom: Lindsey Vonn, first
Men’s giant slalom: Ted Ligety, first
Aspen, Nov. 26-27
Women’s giant slalom: Julia Mancuso, third
Women’s slalom: None
Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 26-27
Men’s downhill: None
Men’s super-G: None
Beaver Creek, Dec. 2-4
Men’s downhill: Bode Miller, first
Men’s super-G: None
Men’s giant slalom: Ligety, second
Lake Louise, Alberta, Dec. 2-4
Women’s downhill: Vonn first
Women’s downhill: Vonn first
Women’s super-G: Vonn first, Mancuso third
Next up
Three more races at Beaver Creek:
Tuesday: Men’s giant slalom
Wednesday: Women’s super-G
Thursday: Men’s slalom
