Ligety Delivers on Birds of Prey “Drive For Five” With Second Run Charge
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. —The U.S. Ski Team’s Ted Ligety could be forgiven for feeling like he was sailing in uncharted waters following the first run of Sunday’s Birds of Prey World Cup Giant Slalom in Beaver Creek.
The 30-year-old from Park City, Utah, dubbed “Mr. GS” by his rivals and media, sat in an uncharacteristic fourth position, 0.25 seconds off the leading time put up by Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich.
Ligety was attempting to record his fifth consecutive Giant Slalom win on the Birds of Prey course, a race that he has dominated over the course of the past four years, while also claiming Olympic and World Championships gold medals in the process.
In addition, the American was nursing a broken hand suffered in training two weeks ago.
However, an all-out attack on the second run enabled Ligety to deliver on his “Drive for Five”, posting a two-run time of 2:34.07 to claim the victory by 0.18 seconds over France’s Alexis Pinturault, while Overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria finished third, 0.6 seconds off Ligety’s winning time.
“Today was a lot of fun,” offered Ligety. “The first run was definitely difficult and I didn’t feel like I got in the groove as much as I have in the past, but the second run, I was confident that I could ski the way I really wanted to. That hill is really fun to ski when it’s like this.”
First run leader Raich ended the day in fourth position, 0.87 off Ligety’s time, while Frenchman Victor Muffat-Jeandet rounded out the top five.
Other American finishes on the day included Tim Jitloff in ninth and David Chodounsky in 17th.
Sunday’s Giant Slalom brings down the curtain on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week and now Vail and Beaver Creek organizers will ramp up final preparations for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, slated for February 2-15.
Medai Contact: John Dakin at jdakin@vvf.org
The 30-year-old from Park City, Utah, dubbed “Mr. GS” by his rivals and media, sat in an uncharacteristic fourth position, 0.25 seconds off the leading time put up by Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich.
Ligety was attempting to record his fifth consecutive Giant Slalom win on the Birds of Prey course, a race that he has dominated over the course of the past four years, while also claiming Olympic and World Championships gold medals in the process.
In addition, the American was nursing a broken hand suffered in training two weeks ago.
However, an all-out attack on the second run enabled Ligety to deliver on his “Drive for Five”, posting a two-run time of 2:34.07 to claim the victory by 0.18 seconds over France’s Alexis Pinturault, while Overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria finished third, 0.6 seconds off Ligety’s winning time.
“Today was a lot of fun,” offered Ligety. “The first run was definitely difficult and I didn’t feel like I got in the groove as much as I have in the past, but the second run, I was confident that I could ski the way I really wanted to. That hill is really fun to ski when it’s like this.”
First run leader Raich ended the day in fourth position, 0.87 off Ligety’s time, while Frenchman Victor Muffat-Jeandet rounded out the top five.
Other American finishes on the day included Tim Jitloff in ninth and David Chodounsky in 17th.
Sunday’s Giant Slalom brings down the curtain on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week and now Vail and Beaver Creek organizers will ramp up final preparations for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, slated for February 2-15.
Medai Contact: John Dakin at 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.
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.
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