Bennett, Cochran-Siegle Top 10 in Kvitfjell
On the first of three races for the men’s speed crew in Kvitfjell, Norway, veteran speed skiers Bryce Bennett and Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way in seventh and 10th respectively.
“Today was difficult,” said Bennett. “I felt like I was in shambles a little bit and yesterday we did some giant slalom training which helped me to narrow my focus for today.”
It began as a gorgeous spring day with a sunrise over the course as the skiers descended upon inspection. There was notably just one training run before the race after the second training run was canceled due to wind and poor snow conditions on the track. This meant the skiers had less time to feel out the track and test out different lines before the race. To find success in the race it would be necessary to take the right amount of risk.
Bennett was at first thrown off by not having his second training run - as he tested out new skis and equipment in the first training run. He needed to quickly devise a plan alongside his technician for the race day.
Despite the uncertainty, Bennett has skied this track many times before and knew how he wanted to ski on race day. Bennett skied strong from top to bottom. Although he got low in a few spots - he was able to recover without losing too much time. Bennett would ski comfortably in the top 10 to claim seventh overall.
“It was decent, just some minor mistakes which have been plaguing me all season. But I know the skiing is there and it's just putting down a clean run,” said Bennett.
Cochran-Siegle also had a strong approach to his day. He ran earlier than Bennett and did not have as much course information before he went. At the first big turn Cochran-Siegle ended up getting a touch low and losing time into the next section. Much like Bennett he was able to bring it back strong and also end up in 10th.
“I tried to have a good, smooth approach given the conditions up top,” said Cochran-Siegle. “I didn't make the best turn off that key pitch so I think there's some time to be found there. But overall I was trusting in my movements.”
Wiley Maple and Sam Morse also had good races in 21st and 24th place. It was a difficult race to make moves up with wind and poor snow conditions coming into play. The move by both Maple and Morse is an impressive feat in itself.
The winner of the race was Italian force Dominik Paris who now has 19 downhill World Cup wins to his name - the second most for any male ski racer in history. Second place went to Swiss skier Marco Odermatt with third going to Swiss skier Stefan Rogentin.
Overall it was a positive step forward for the men’s speed team. The men are planning to build on the day’s positive results and bring it full throttle on the last regular season downhill of the season.
RESULTS
men's downhill
HOW TO WATCH
4:30 a.m. ET - men’s downhill, Kvitfjell, Norway - skiandsnowboard.live
