Avon, CO – Super G World Champion Ted Ligety found his speed in the Audi Birds of Prey super G on Saturday finishing fifth, just one tenth of a second from the podium, in front of a roaring Beaver Creek crowd as Patrick Kueng of Switzerland celebrated the surprise win.

“It was close,” a disappointed Ligety, of Park City, Utah, said following the race. “It’s not an easy hill up there right now. It’s tough because it’s flat light and the snow kind of peels away from you in spots too. I think we both (Bode Miller) made some mistakes, but I was able to make them in the right spots maybe.”

Like Friday’s downhill the course combined the upper part of Raptor, the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s speed track, and the bottom part of the traditional Audi Birds of Prey men’s course. Kueng zoomed down the course with bib #28 to steal the victory by 0.24 seconds ahead of Austria’s Otmar Striedinger, who snatched second place with bib #45. Austria’s Hannes Reichelt and Italy’s Peter Fill could only watch in awe as they were bumped down to third place, sharing the honors after finishing 0.38 behind the late starter.

Kueng’s victory, the first ever for the 29-year-old, was the first for the Swiss team in a men’s speed event since March 2012, when Beat Fuez won in Kvitfjell, Norway, giving the traditional alpine nation its first glimmer of hope after a tough 2012-13 campaign.

“It’s a really strong group of guys competing right now and it is not so easy to get on the podium, so I am especially happy with today’s result,” said Kueng.

Almost 30 minutes later, with an amazing late run Striedinger sent the second wave of shock through the stands when he claimed his first-ever podium finish at the World Cup level and bumped the field down a notch.

“I can’t believe it, this is a dream,” said an emotional Striedinger after the race. “I said to myself at the start gate that I really had to push it and give it my all, but this second place finish is really unbelievable for me.”

Five-time Olympic medalist Bode Miller held a commanding lead of over a second on the top section of the course before nearly missing a blind gate after the Harrier jump. He then made a stunning recovery to finish 14^th.

“That mistake was just unfortunate really,” said Miller, of Franconia, N.H. “You can see the group of people standing on the right on Harrier jump. The gate is actually against the banners there. It’s a red gate against a red background and you just can’t see it. I wouldn’t make that mistake but one time out of 20. It sucks to make it on a day where I ski that clean on the top. The way I came down off the pitch and even down by Screech Owl – I don’t think anyone can beat that.”

Olympic bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht, of Lake Placid, N.Y., was also skiing in podium position when he took a tight line in the middle section, smashed a gate and recovered to finish 20^th.

“Down on the bottom coming out of the abyss I took just a bit of a wrong line,” he said. “I was headed a little bit too far right so I had to jam and hop around a couple gates just to stay in the course. I’m really happy with the result even though it could have been a lot better. My goal today was to get into the points and try to get myself back in the top 30. I’m disappointed at what could have been, but it is what it is so I’m moving on.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Birds of Prey – Beaver Creek, CO – Dec. 7, 2013
Men’s Super G