Zagreb, Croatia – The U.S. Ski Team’s Ted Ligety came from behind to notch his best Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom finish in three years, finishing sixth in the Zagreb night slalom on Thursday. Fellow American David Chodounsky earned his first World Cup points and another World Cup slalom start for the U.S. in 20th. Sweden’s Andre Myhrer won with Croatian hero Ivica Kostelic in second while another Swedish skier, Mattias Hargin, completed the podium in third.nAfter finishing the first run in 16th, Ligety charged out of the gate posting the third fastest second run. With 25,000 fans cheering for all the racers louder than at any other World Cup stop, Ligety crossed the finish line in second, before eventually getting bumped down to sixth.
“Second run the snow softened up a little bit and I think that kind of helped me get comfortable enough to really push it,” explained Ligety, of Park City, Utah. ” I was pretty happy to come down in second place and lucky enough to hold on to it for awhile.”
Kicking out of the gate in 22nd, Crested Butte, Colo.’s Chodounsky shredded down the course, entering the finish arena with a big smile on his face and arms raised above his head. Chodounsky, who has been posting strong results in both the early NorAms and Europa Cups, finished 20th scoring his first World Cup points as well as earning another World Cup slalom start for the U.S.
“We came in with quite bit of confidence. Our group has been skiing some pretty fast slalom in training. We just needed to do it in a race and it worked out for me today,” said Chodounsky. “To get those first World Cup points and to break in there is kind of tough. I’ve been trying to do it for a little while now and finally did it. It’s kind of huge weight that got lifted off. Now I can tell myself, I can charge.”
“It’s a great situation and getting another spot back for the Nation is important because our guys are extremely fast in slalom,” said U.S. Ski Team Men’s Head Technical Coach, Mike Day. “We haven’t really had an opportunity to show it to everyone yet on the World Cup, but clearly they had great results in the Europa Cup last month and the World Cup results are coming.”
Olympic champion Bode Miller just missed qualifying for the second run, finishing 32nd, while teammates Will Brandenburg (Spokane, Wash.) and Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.) failed to complete the first run. Likewise, none of the Canadian men qualified for a second run with Whistler, British Columbia’s Michael Janyk the closest in 33rd position, .09 seconds short. Only the top 30 racers qualify for a second run.
“I changed my skis for this race because I felt like my old skis had a tendency to straddle, since I straddled in my last two races,” said Janyk. “These skis were very aggressive for the course here and maybe a little too aggressive, so it didn’t work either. It’s very disappointing, but we are now heading to Adelboden (Switzerland) and we need to put this race behind us and focus on the next one this Sunday.”
Ligety heads into Adelboden sitting in third in the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall standings as well as giant slalom leader, having won all three GS races to date this season.
“I’m just trying to rest up and continue the streak in GS in Adelboden. It won’t be easy,” admitted Ligety, who will try to build on Thursday’s result in the slalom race. “It’s a tough hill. But this year is a different year and I’m skiing better than I have before. I think it’s possible for the win, but we’ll see.”
Adelboden will host a GS and slalom Jan. 8-9.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Zagreb, Croatia – Jan. 6, 2011
Slalom
1. Andre Myhrer, Sweden, 1:52.74
2. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 1:52.84
3. Mattias Hargin, Sweden, 1:53.10