World Ski Championships, Men's Giant Slalom: Ligety Beats Hirscher to Gold
It just had to be them. The two men who finished first and second in the last World Ski Championships giant slalom, and who have been the pre-eminent competitors in the discipline since just about the turn of the decade. Who else was going to come between them in Beaver Creek?
Well, actually, there was more to the 2015 edition of the Worlds giant slalom than the duel between American Ted Ligety and Austrian Marcel Hirscher. A closely-contested first run ensured that much.
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Nonetheless, the Michael Buffer-style promo used by the BBC show Ski Sunday last week to promote this as the "giant slalom championship of the world" ultimately proved accurate.
It took several minutes for his rival to feel its effect, but Ligety landed the telling punch.
The winner's story
"I'm skiing far worse than I have the last couple of years," Ligety told Eurosport's Kari Anne Saude earlier this week on the Beaver Creek Cafe programme. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I've definitely taken a big step back in my skiing."
The 30-year-old went on to cite a refocusing of elements of his style and less than ideal preparation periods as contributory factors to an underwhelming overall World Cup season by his high standards.
Where Ligety's form remained solid, however, was in his specialty of giant slalom. DNFs and lowly finishes permeated his other results, but in five GS races he finished in the top 10 each time.
Crucially, in December he won his fifth consecutive Beaver Creek GS. If things were not going according to plan in other events and other places, racing on home snow was still reaping rewards.
After respectable but unremarkable cracks at the speed events, Ligety's bronze medal in the Alpine combined reinforced his comfort in the Colorado venue. He took that into his first giant slalom run, recording a respectable time of 1:15.42, which left him within a quarter of a second of Hirscher.
Matts Olsson had just taken the lead when Ligety launched, the fifth-last to go of the fastest 30.
The intermediate times remained green throughout. He got quicker and quicker, and by the time he was done, he had 1.25 seconds on the Swede.
The four runs that followed undoubtedly had Ligety on edge. But he held on, and a raucous U.S. crowd roared its approval at the first American gold of these World Championships. Ligety told the International Ski Federation's (FIS) website:
"This is probably one of the most emotional victories, from the standpoint that it's been a tough kind of year. To be able to win in front of a home crowd and have a bunch of friend and family here is super meaningful. And to pull it off with that kind of pressure is always awesome.
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Besides cheering the Americans in their home World Championships, Ligety also made some individual history. Most notable, as confirmed by the FIS, was his achievement of becoming "the first man to win the Giant Slalom world title three times following his wins in 2011 and 2013."
Silver and bronze
It remained close, but going by the top half of Hirscher's second run, the possibility of pipping Ligety's excellent time was alive. When the final split clocked last weekend's Alpine combined winner at just -0.08 ahead, we had confirmation we were witnessing the most thrilling concluding moments of these World Championships thus far.
The obvious flip side of being first heading into your final ski is you get the hill a little worse for wear. On another day the dumps and rivets that directed Hirscher marginally off his desired line might not have proven so costly. But Ligety had laid down a gauntlet that required near-perfection to pass.
"I have to say I gave my best," Hirscher said per the FIS website. "I had a pretty awesome run, but Ted's run was definitely outstanding. I don't think I could have skied even one hundredth of a second faster, so to get that silver medal makes me super happy."
With four GS wins to his name and four races to go this season, Hirscher remains in pole position to claim the discipline's World Cup title. For the moment, his attentions will turn to regaining slalom gold at these World Championships.
Third place Alexis Pinturault (France) is also third in the aforementioned World Cup giant slalom hunt. Behind Hirscher by 150 points, it may prove beyond him this season. But the addition of this bronze medal to the one he took at last year's Winter Olympics is a further indication of the outstanding future ahead for this 23-year-old.
In the present, his effort in Beaver Creek was particularly commendable given that he has been ill this week. "After the first run I thought that things were fine again, that I finally had all the power back I needed," Pinturault revealed, again per the FIS.
"The feeling was good. But in the second run, it was much more difficult for me. I was really tired."
Host nation performances
Ligety was naturally the pick of the bunch for the Americans. Tim Jitloff's ninth place matched his best performance of the season, when he took ninth place in a Beaver Creek giant slalom.
Tommy Ford and Brennan Rubie's respective finishes of 19th and 26th will be encouraging for skiers battling to prove their worth in regards to future World Cup opportunities. David Chodounsky finished 29th ahead of his preferred slalom event this weekend.
Most disappointed
Austrian Benjamin Raich was first out of the starting gate and the first of a clutch of top skiers not to finish the day with a position after getting caught out by the deceptive challenges laid out in the first run. He was joined by French pair Thomas Fanara and Mathieu Faivre, Norway's Leif Kristian Haugen and Sweden's Andre Myhrer (plus a few others).
Of those who did finish, Germany's Fritz Dopfer will be hugely frustrated with a first run that left him down in 16th. A perennial top 10 placer on the World Cup tour, he manged to move up just one position.
Italy's Roberto Nani recorded a more than respectable sixth place, but will have to hope for a medal given that he was second-last to ski.
Underdog tales
Then again, Nani and his compatriot Florian Eisath (who ended up in eighth) should be pleased with showings that helped rescue some pride in a miserable World Championships for the Italians. Not quite underdogs, they certainly had some momentum against them.
Olsson's fifth place and Philipp Schoerghofer's (Austria) 10th fit the underdog description a little better. So too does the strong showings of the buoyant Canadian team, led by Dustin Cook in 12th and Trevor Philp in 18th (after a starting bib of 38).
Next up
The World Championships conclude with the women's slalom on Saturday and the men's turn on Sunday.
World Championships results and leaderboard information confirmed via the FIS.
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