Norwegian Express Rolls on as Jansrud Tames Birds of Prey Downhill For Third Straight Win
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado—Norway’s small but mighty World Cup alpine ski troops scored another victory Friday in Beaver Creek as Kjetil Jansrud picked up his third consecutive World Cup win, taming the infamous Birds of Prey Downhill.
The 29-year-old from Stavanger, Norway laid down what he described as a “close to perfect run” to claim the win in a time of 1:40.17, 54-hundredths of a second ahead of runner-up Beat Feuz of Switzerland, while American Steven Nyman rounded out the podium in third, 56-hundredths off the Norwegian’s pace.
The victory comes on the heels of Jansrud’s World Cup Downhill and Super-G sweep in Lake Louise, Canada last weekend.
Jansrud moved to the forefront of Norway’s “Attacking Vikings” at the end of October when teammate and team leader Aksel Lund-Svindal suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon during a training session prior to the opening World Cup race of the winter in Soelden, Austria. In addition to Jansrud, only one other Norwegian was entered in the Birds of Prey Downhill, 22-year-old Kilde Aleksander Aamodt.
When asked whether the Birds of Prey win allowed Jansrud to start thinking about the possibility of a gold medal at February’s 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek, the Norwegian replied that it most certainly gave him confidence that he could do it, but that his focus was on Saturday’s Beaver Creek Super-G.
In addition to Nyman’s podium appearance, the U.S. Ski Team also delivered a fifth place effort from Travis Ganong, while Ted Ligety finished 28th and Andrew Weibrecht, starting 62nd, place 30th.
The 2014 Audi FIS Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week will continue Saturday with Men’s Super-G getting underway at 11 a.m.
Media contact: John Dakin, (970) 777-2015, jdakin@vvf.org
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
The 29-year-old from Stavanger, Norway laid down what he described as a “close to perfect run” to claim the win in a time of 1:40.17, 54-hundredths of a second ahead of runner-up Beat Feuz of Switzerland, while American Steven Nyman rounded out the podium in third, 56-hundredths off the Norwegian’s pace.
The victory comes on the heels of Jansrud’s World Cup Downhill and Super-G sweep in Lake Louise, Canada last weekend.
Jansrud moved to the forefront of Norway’s “Attacking Vikings” at the end of October when teammate and team leader Aksel Lund-Svindal suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon during a training session prior to the opening World Cup race of the winter in Soelden, Austria. In addition to Jansrud, only one other Norwegian was entered in the Birds of Prey Downhill, 22-year-old Kilde Aleksander Aamodt.
When asked whether the Birds of Prey win allowed Jansrud to start thinking about the possibility of a gold medal at February’s 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek, the Norwegian replied that it most certainly gave him confidence that he could do it, but that his focus was on Saturday’s Beaver Creek Super-G.
In addition to Nyman’s podium appearance, the U.S. Ski Team also delivered a fifth place effort from Travis Ganong, while Ted Ligety finished 28th and Andrew Weibrecht, starting 62nd, place 30th.
The 2014 Audi FIS Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week will continue Saturday with Men’s Super-G getting underway at 11 a.m.
Media contact: John Dakin, (970) 777-2015, jdakin@vvf.org
About Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN)
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Park City and Canyons in Utah; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan; and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.