All of this made Ligety’s win, and margin of victory, all the more amazing. Coach Sasha Rearick is generally pretty guarded in what he says,
but immediately after this race he left no doubt
how he felt. “That was a clinic out there today,”
he said. “I’m a little bit dumbfounded.”
Rearick added, “I’ve been coaching Ted a long
time and I’ve never seen him find this kind of
confidence. ... It was just perfect execution —
true champion style.”
Let’s give the others their due. Norway’s Aksel
Svindal was brilliant in second place. Ditto Mas-similiano Blardone of Italy with his first podium
in nearly a year. Defending overall champ Carlo
Janka of Switzerland displayed his love of the
steep and icy in fourth, and Raich and younger
teammate Marcel Hirscher nudged Ligety the
whole way, for fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Val d’Isere Val Gardena Alta Badia Switzerland’s Carlo Janka displays his love of the steep and icy in France.
Val d’Isere GS, Dec. 11
Val d’Isere opened the tour leg on the Stade Bel-
levarde, a steep piste that was used for the men’s
races at the 2009 World Championships. It is not
a pleasant ski and produces some of the more
awkward-looking racing of the season. The best
in the world struggle here, and the opening GS
was no exception.
“You must make no mistake,” said Austrian Ben-
jamin Raich, the World Cup winner in 2006 and
runner-up an astonishing five times. “You had
to make every turn exactly. Altogether this race
was extremely difficult.”
Even Ligety, the winner by more than a second,
said he felt like he “had the e-brake on” as he
fought his way down.
Those who finished down the ladder felt more
frustrated. “Anyone who can score points here
is a survivor,” said Robbie Dixon, the lone Cana-
Lindsey Vonn, Olympic Champion and Two-time World Cup Overall Winner
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