Avon, CO – Five of nine U.S. starters, including Bode Miller and Ted Ligety, skied out of the Super G course at Saturday’s Birds of Prey World Cup race at Beaver Creek ski resort in Colorado. Austria’s Georg Streitberger clinched the victory for the second Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win of his career.nCanada’s Robbie Dixon, wearing bib #1, crossed the finish line of the icy and challenging Birds of Prey course in 8th place.
“I’m feeling good (about my run). I think I took advantage of starting number one there and skied the best I could,” said the 25-year-old Dixon, who hails from Whistler, British Columbia. “There was a couple little mistakes, but it’s tough to go on this course with no real idea, so I’m pretty happy. It’s a step in the right direction. Obviously I want to get on that podium, but I guess I’ll have to wait until another race now.”
The lone bright spot for the U.S. Ski Team on Saturday was Steven Nyman’s 25th-place finish, boosting the U.S. Ski Team’s World Cup quota spots in the discipline to 10.
“Four years ago we only had four spots in super G,” said U.S. Ski Team Men’s Head Coach Sasha Rearick. “We made a big step and now we have 10 spots – the same as Austria, Switzerland and Italy. That’s a huge success for us.”
“It’s pretty disappointing actually to have all those guys go out,” said Nyman, even though the Heber, Utah resident matched his 2008 super G result from Beaver Creek despite starting from the 57th slot. “But I’m happy. I created another spot for the ski team. I haven’t scored points in the super G event for over a year now so I’m pretty psyched to get back in there. To go from 57 to 25, I’m stoked.”
Streitberger led a tight field with a mere 0.19 seconds separating the top-five. France’s Adrien Theaux finished second with World Cup star and Audi Birds of Prey crowd favorite Didier Cuche of Switzerland in third.
“This hill is fast with a lot of terrain and you have to attack,” added Rearick. “You have to ski this hill very aggressively, but at the same time you have to ski it very smart. Some of the guys executed and others didn’t. But I’m really stoked about Steven. For him to come down in flat light with rough conditions and come down and score points is a huge success.”
Despite the string of U.S. DNFs, the overflowing crowd roared for each American even as Miller (Franconia, N.H.), Ligety (Park City, Utah), Marco Sullivan (Olympic Valley, Calif.) and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) missed a crucial gate midway down the course in the Screech Owl section.
“In inspection, we just didn’t anticipate how big of a turn it was,” said Ligety. “It’s a bummer, but that’s super G, you have to be in the fine line of going out and making it clean and we just were on the other side of that line. A lot of guys think this is the coolest super G hill on the World Cup and we’re all really excited to have a good day, so this is definitely a bummer.”
World Cup rookie Travis Ganong (Olympic Valley, Calif.) is making a smooth transition to the best in the world stage, placed just outside the points in 31st.
The U.S. Ski Team will refocus their efforts for Sunday with sights set on redemption in giant slalom. Ligety, the defending World Cup giant slalom champion, hasn’t finished outside the top five in the last four years of racing GS in Beaver Creek, including two podium finishes.
“Ted Ligety and Bode skied the top very aggressive – fantasic skiing,” said Rearick. “I’m looking forward to seeing those two guy put it down tomorrow in the GS.”
In addition to Ligety and Miller, Sunday’s GS will also feature fellow Americans Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.), Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.), Tim Jitloff (Reno, Nev.), Will Gregorak (Longmont, Colo.) and Warner Nickerson (Gilford, N.H.). The race opens at 9:45 a.m. with a second run slated for 12:45 local time.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Beaver Creek, CO
December 4, 2010
Super G
1. Georg Streitberger, Austria, 1:17.18
2. Adrien Theaux, France, 1:17.29
3. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 1:17.31
4. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 1:17.38
5. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 1:17.41