Bode Miller comes to a stop after the downhill.
Gunter Hujara congratulated Beaver Creek organizers.
length of his edges. He wasn’t alone as tech reps were quick to examine each
pair of arriving skis, at times peeling strips of material from the surfaces.
Janka got the first of his three wins with a strong downhill leg (he finished
third) and a strong enough slalom leg. Didier Defago, who won the downhill portion, hung on for second and Zrncic-Dim, perhaps making up for the
loss of teammate Ivica Kostelic, completed the podium. Not feeling well, and
nursing a chronically sore back, Kostelic did not participate in the second and
full-length training run. While some assumed the half-length first training
had not been sufficient for the mandatory training before a downhill, Kostelic
assumed it was indeed sufficient, and skipped the second trainer.
Bode Miller, in place after the downhill (seventh) to make a move, skied
out in the slalom and did not finish, sliding head first down the edge of the
course.
Ted Ligety, 24th after the downhill, caught a tip coming over the final pitch
and straddled. “In order to finish fast in slalom you have to go aggressive and
that’s the approach I was taking,” Ligety said. “I’m glad I’m skiing fast; it’s just
annoying not to make the finish.” He put it in a nutshell when he Tweeted:
“Bummer race at the Beav...skied well just didn’t finish. Can’t wait for the GS
on Sunday.”
Andrew Weibrecht had a remarkable downhill run, placing fifth from the
48th start, but was out-classed in the field of slalom skiers and dropped to
19th for the only North American finish.
“It’s pretty much all I could have expected with the amount of (slalom) training I’ve had,” Weibrecht said. “I’m really happy with my downhill run and I’ll
JULIE SHIPMAN
