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Tom Kelly/U.S. Ski Team
Headline RSS FeedVonn misses super-G win by .03 seconds; Ligety fourth in Birds of Prey GS
December 6, 2009 —
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta, Canada - The course in Lake Louise appeared to be a good fit for Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) as she marked two downhill wins and, on Sunday, a second-place finish in the Audi FIS World Cup super G.
"I'm really happy with today. I thought I had a really solid run, and I thought I skied well on the pitch there," Vonn said. "I just lost some time on the bottom, but it was a great day and I am really happy with second place."
Vonn led the splits throughout three quarters of the race before falling back and finishing just .03 seconds behind winner Elisabeth Goergl of Austria. France's Ingrid Jacquemod rounded out the podium in third.
"It would have been nice to get another win, but Lizzy just had a better run today," Vonn said. "I'm going to watch some video tonight and maybe see where I can make up some time for the next race."
The day marked Vonn's third podium in the super G at Lake Louise, and her 11th overall podium at the Canadian venue. Vonn credits such a great deal of success in Lake Louise over the years to her level of comfort there.
"I just have always liked Lake Louise and I think the hill really suits my strengths. I had my first World Cup win here and I have a lot of confidence on this hill," Vonn said. "I know what to do and I know the line everywhere. It just all makes me really confident when I am standing in the starting gate."
Following much success by the U.S. women over the weekend, Keely Kelleher (Big Sky, MT) added her personal best World Cup finish coming in 20th.
"I'm feeling good. Yesterday I was really disappointed with blowing out and almost crashing. But I was really positive today and I got a good course report from Lindsey. I just gave it my all," Kelleher said.
According to Kelleher, the personal record is a huge boost that she hopes will push her forward this season.
"It's so early in the season and I've never done that well at Lake Louise. I definitely feel confident now knowing that I can turn better and glide," Kelleher said. "I was happy with it and I think it will help me in my races to come."
With the weekend of racing wrapped up in Lake Louise, the women's team now packs up for Europe where they will race technical events in Are, Sweden Dec. 12-13
"We're flying to Sweden now, and I'm just looking forward to the next GS and slalom," Vonn said.
Ligety continues to come close at Birds of Prey
BEAVER CREEK, CO (Dec. 6) - Olympic champion Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) brought an action filled weekend of alpine ski racing to a close Sunday as he took fourth in the Audi Birds of Prey giant slalom World Cup at Beaver Creek.
Switzerland's Carlo Janka finished the weekend of racing going three for three as he won every race the Birds course offered him.
Ligety, who sat in fourth following the first run, had great speed throughout the course in his second run, but a bobble on the last transition cost him some momentum.
"I was going fast and I was having a good run, but I went just a touch too straight out of that last turn and was off balance a little bit, too. I ditched some speed there," Ligety said. "Both courses were running really fast, and that's not really my specialty. So in order to come down in fourth place against some guys who are better at these types of courses is pretty good."
Men's Alpine Head Coach Sasha Rearick said he was pleased with the way Ligety attacked the course.
"Today Ted did what he could and he gave tremendous effort. In the second run he was taking risks to make up time and he got caught in a little bit of chop and it got his line low in that last delay, which cost him some time," Rearick said. "But, he gave a lot of effort and I am very pleased with the effort he gave."
Regardless of where he finished, though, Ligety was without a doubt a fan favorite thanks to a contingent of youngsters from the Park City Ski Team who made the trek from his hometown to watch him race.
"It was awesome having the Park City Ski Team here. I grew up in that club, and we always used to have the World Cups in Park City," Ligety said. "I looked forward to that every year. It's cool they made the trip out here and get that World Cup feel."
The only other athlete to make it past Sunday's foreboding snowstorm and into the second run was Jake Zamansky (Aspen, CO) who finished 25th and, according to Rearick, did well.
"Jake Zamansky qualified again and that was a good step forward for him," Rearick said.
However, other athletes including Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) and Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) were subject to weather related equipment malfunctions which slowed "Jit" down and took Miller entirely out of the race.
"Tim Jitloff and Bode had some goggle issues this morning," Rearick said. "It froze up on the inside and they couldn't see a thing out of them, so that was a bummer to have that happen in this big event."
The giant slalom event brought three days of racing in Beaver Creek to a close, but fans can relive the excitement by tuning in to Versus for the downhill on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. ET followed by super combined at 5 p.m. ET. Versus will also air GS on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. ET.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP
Beaver Creek, CO – Dec. 6, 2009
Giant Slalom
1. Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 2:29.44
2. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 2:29.91
3. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 2:30.37
4. Ted Ligety, Park City, UT, 2:30.58
5. Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 2:30.61
-
25. Jake Zamansky, Aspen, CO, 2:32.63
- (top 30 qualify)
DNQ1: Tommy Ford (Bend, OR), Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV)
DNF1: Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY), Bode Miller (Franconia, NH)
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP
Lake Louise, AB – Dec. 6, 2009
Super G
1. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 1:21.91
2. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 1:21.94
3. Ingrid Jacquemod, France, 1:22.53
4. Anna Fenninger, Austria, 1:22.57
5. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:22.60
-
20. Keely Kelleher, Big Sky, MT, 1:23.98
32. Chelsea Marshall, Pittsfield, VT, 1:24.39
38. Alice McKennis, Glenwood Springs, CO, 1:24.54
40. Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 1:24.63
41. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 1:24.76
42. Stacey Cook, Mammoth Mountain, CA, 1:24.80
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