BEAVER CREEK — Steve Nyman doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him. He’s had lots of hard times in 13 years on the U.S. Ski Team, but he’s quick to point out those things happen to the best of them: Bode Miller recently underwent back surgery in hopes of making it back for the world championships in February, and Norwegian superstar Aksel Lund Svindal blew out an Achilles tendon in preseason training.
Nyman also had to come up with $20,000 to race on the team this season. He won some of it back Friday, finishing third in a World Cup downhill that paid him $12,400.
“I’ve been through ups and downs, but everybody has,” said Nyman, 32. “Top guys right now — Bode’s out, Aksel’s out. They keep doing it because they love it. And I love it.”
When it comes together as it did Friday, the hardships are worth it. On a course where the world championships will be held in two months, Nyman charged down an impeccably prepared track for his fifth career podium, his third on the highly regarded Birds of Prey.
Nyman was 0.56 of a second behind the winner, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway.
“I just feel comfortable here,” said Nyman, a two-time World Cup winner from Sundance, Utah. “The hill is the most well-rounded hill on the World Cup, in my opinion. You have the gliding sections, you have the steep sections, you have a lot of jumps — you have to be able to do everything really well.
“What’s amazing is how well they prep the hill. It’s steep and demanding, yet you can just charge down it. You know that snow is going to hold, and you have to risk it. You just know, ‘I’ve got to go for it. I’ve got to throw my body down the hill if I want to get on the podium.’ “
Travis Ganong of Squaw Valley, Calif., missed the podium by only 0.15 of a second, finishing fifth.
“It was really good to see (Nyman) step up and get a podium,” Ganong said, “and I was super close as well.”
Ganong, 26, seems to be coming into his own. He’s been in the top 10 in the past seven downhills, including fifth at the Olympics. That’s a good place for an up-and-coming racer to be with world championships looming.
“He’s a great talent,” Nyman said. “The kid is so solid, he never gets kicked out of position. He’s got the gliding skills, the technical skills. His GS this summer was really on point. He’s one to reckon with. Once he gets confident, he can really throw down.”
Jansrud has prospered leading the Norwegian team in Svindal’s absence, winning all three World Cup speed races this season to emerge as a World Cup overall threat.
“It’s obviously a fantastic feeling,” Jansrud said. “But it feels kind of weird too. You know there’s a lot of fast guys and a lot of talent. You never expect to grab those three wins and then you do it. Winning (Friday) by half a second is almost unbelievable.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or
U.S. men on podium in Beaver Creek downhills
2014: Steve Nyman, third
2011: Bode Miller, first
2007: Nyman, second
2006: Miller first, Nyman third
2005: Daron Rahlves first, Miller second
2004: Miller first, Rahlves second
2003: Rahlves, first
2002: Rahlves, third
