Career-Best Day for Weibrecht at Kitz

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (Jan. 23, 2015)—Kitzbuehel has officially started and it was as thrilling as everyone hoped. The Americans came in strong to the super G, with two-time Olympic medalist Andrew “Warhorse” Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) pulling off a career-best World Cup result in fifth place, and Steven Nyman (Squaw Valley, CA) taking 13th.

It was a gnarly course, as always, set more like a downhill than a super G, with both smooth and bumpy sections. But Weibrecht skied it cleanly and aggressively, nailing his line.

“It’s always a great place to have a good result,” said Weibrecht, after his run. “I wanted to start out 2015 skiing really strong and carry everything I had into the new year.”

Weibrecht, who is known for winning Olympic bronze and silver in 2010 and 2014, had never cracked the World Cup top five before this race. Three out of his previous four top-10 results were in Beaver Creek. So how is the Warhorse feeling about the Vail/Beaver Creek-based FIS Alpine World Championships in two weeks? “World Champs is a hill that I like a lot. It’s game on in Vail,” confirmed Weibrecht.

Nyman also had a great run, his best super G result since 2007. But, as always, the speed skier is looking for better. “I skied well. I skied my plan. It worked out that today was pretty quick,” said Nyman. “I risked it on the Hausberg [jump], but got bounced pretty low. I could have ended up in the top 10 if that didn’t happen.”

Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) took 36th and Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) 46th. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA), Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY), Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) and Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) all DNFed.

Weibrecht shreds to fifth place in Kitzbuehel. (Mitch Gunn)

The super G, while being a stand-alone World Cup race, also takes place as part of a alpine combined—one super G and one slalom run. Under the lights for the slalom portion of the race, Weibrecht finished 18th, Goldberg 19th and Jitloff 25th overall in the alpine combined. 

Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) acted as the POV forerunner of the race—skiing well, but not taking too many risks. He will pull out of the downhill, deciding to focus on World Championships instead. “It’s tough because I love to win here, but to avoid the race is the right decision,” said Miller. “Another week and I should be good.”

The thrilling Hahnenkamm downhill—the “Super Bowl” of ski racing—takes place in Kitzbuehel on Saturday, with an expected 60-70,000 screaming fans. Watch it live on Universal Sports at 5:30 a.m. EST or stream it on universalsports.com at 5:45 a.m. EST.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Super G podium: Dominik Paris of Italy was first, Matthias Mayer of Austria second and George Streitberger of Austria was third.
• Alpine combined podium: Alex Pinturault of France first, Marcel Hirscher of Austria second and Ondrej Bank of the Czech Republic was third.
• Ligety is the only American in the top 10 overall World Cup standings—in ninth place.
• Before Friday, Weibrecht had only one top-15 result in Kitzbuehel—11th place at the super G in his first Kitzbuehel attempt in 2009.

QUOTES
Andrew Weibrecht
I pushed real hard and I planned to really attack. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes it’s slow. I skied well. I skied my plan. It worked out that today was pretty quick.

[Kitzbuehel is] always a great place to have a good result. I had a good start to the season, but not a great start. I had a couple runs that were really competitive—like Beaver Creek. I wanted to start out 2015 skiing really strong and carry everything I had into the new year.

This is a hill I’ve done well on before, but I didn’t necessarily like the set on it. So having the run I had, I feel really good about it. It’s pretty open, not super technical. I’m a little bit better on the GS end of super G than the downhill end. I just stuck to my plan and it was a good one.

It’s game on in Vail.

I start late tomorrow [for the downhill], so I don’t like my chances as much. I think it will be a good race for us as a team. I’m going to give it my best shot, but I think today was my day. This race is pure terror and excellence. This is the time of year my skiing seems to pick up a bit.

I had a lot of injuries in the majority of my World Cup career. I’ve been healthy for the Olympics. This is the year I’ve been hoping to change that. I’ve had a couple good runs, not great results yet. I’m continuing to push.

The two goals that every ski racer has is an Olympic medal and a podium or a win in Kitzbuehel. I have the Olympic medal, so I’ll have to come back next year and give it another shot.

Steven Nyman
Kitzbuehel is interesting. It’s a sprint. It’s only a minute 10. You can see how tight it is. Dominik [Paris] risked it and went in for the win. I risked it on the Hausberg [jump], but got bounced pretty low. I could have ended up in the top 10 if that didn’t happen.

The thing that has helped me is that I’ve been messing with some ski models and training after the new year. I figured out there’s a ski I really like. I’m really balanced on it. They’re new and they’re fast.

Watching Weibrecht was inspiring. He went for it and risked it, like he always does, and when he gets away with it, he’s usually fast. It’s good to see him top five. Hopefully he can get on the podium soon.

Tomorrow is about gathering courage and risking a lot. I’ve learned a lot the past couple days in training. People love ski racing in Austria. Tomorrow there will be 60-70,000 people here. It will be a massive amount of energy. You want to perform on that sort of stage.

Bode Miller, forerunner
Yesterday I skied well in some sections, but I backed off. I went sideways in some sections to slow down and protect my back. I’m not quite 8.5 weeks out of surgery. It’s not enough time to run this with confidence.

It was a hard decision. I could have been faster than I was yesterday. It’s tough because I love to win here, but to avoid the race is the right decision.

There are parts where I’m going full-race intensity. The conditions here are more demanding than most. Another week and I should be good. I’ll get ready for World Champs and hopefully be there.