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Ted Ligety was again far too strong for his rivals when he cruised to his second giant slalom victory of the season at Beaver Creek on Sunday. |
The win, in a combined time of two minutes 25.59 seconds, was the American’s 13th in the discipline and the third at Beaver Creek as he again pleased home fans with two blistering runs.
The giant slalom world champion, who won the season opener in Soelden with a record lead of 2.75 seconds, was a little less impressive this time, but still left second-placed Austrian Marcel Hirscher a huge 1.76 behind.
Italy’s Davide Simoncelli was third, 2.07 adrift, for his first podium in more than two years.
“It was a great battle today and a special feeling. I’m proud to have shown to the American fans what I can do,” said Ligety, still sporting the moustache he grew after November was declared the moustache month.
“It’s not the same when you know that everybody at the bottom is expecting you to win and to do it by such a margin,” he added.
“Obviously, after Soelden, I had a little bit of pressure on my shoulders. It remained to be seen whether I could repeat the same race and the same gap. It’s true it looks a little bit like Hermann Maier when he won his races by two seconds but I’m not looking for that. I try to race like Ligety.”
His victory crowned a perfect weekend for the US Ski Team after the treble achieved by Lindsey Vonn in Lake Louise and the three runner-up spots earned by Stacey Cook and Julia Mancuso.
Yet, like Vonn, Ligety said the race had been far from a piece of cake.
“It was not easy today,” he said. “I could not believe I was first after the first run because I had a terrible feeling all the way down. I had the impression I was doing everything wrong.”
Vonn maintains unbeaten run in Lake Louise
Lindsey Vonn achieved her second successive Lake Louise treble when she won Sunday’s Super-G, the third race on the weekend programme at the Canadian resort.
The American clocked one minute and 22.82 seconds to snatch her 14th victory at her favourite skiing venue, her seventh in succession, but she confessed the effort had worn her out.
“I’m just shattered, I’m running on low battery,” said Vonn, who collapsed at the feet of second-placed teammate Julia Mancuso in the finish area.
With 56 victories, the four times World Cup champion is now the second most successful skier in history behind Annemarie Moser-Proell, whose record of 62 wins is in serious jeopardy.
But the downhill Olympic champion can already claim to have won more actual races than the legendary Austrian, whose record included seven combineds, which at the time were mere additions of a downhill and a slalom held separately.
Mancuso completed a clean sweep by the US Ski team at the weekend by finishing second, 0.43 behind, emulating compatriot Stacey Cook, runner-up in both Friday’s and Saturday’s downhills behind Vonn.