Cochran-Siegle Wins Jr. Worlds Downhill Gold
ROCCARASO, Italy (March 2) - Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT) added to the "Skiing Cochran's" family legacy with downhill gold Friday for the first U.S. Ski Team medal at the 2012 Alpine Junior World Ski Championships with a .09 second win over Swiss Ralph Weber in Roccaraso. The victory adds to Cochran-Siegle's already successful season that includes Audi FIS Alpine World Cup points in a pair of super G races in addition to four NorAm victories to lead the tour standings in both downhill and super G. It also earned Cochran-Siegle a downhill start at the World Cup Finals on March 14 in Schladming, Austria.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT) won downhill gold at the Alpine Junior World Ski Championships.
- The victory earned Cochran-Siegle a downhill start a the World Cup Finals on March 14 in Schladming, Austria.
- Cochran-Siegle is a member of the famous "Skiing Cochran's". His mother Barbara Ann Cochran won 1972 Olympic gold in slalom.
- His cousin Jessica Kelley took giant slalom silver at the 2002 Junior Worlds behind Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA)
- The Cochran family operates a small ski area outside of Burlington, Vermont
- He wore bib No. 1, the same start number as his mother at the Sapporo, Japan Olympic Games.
- Cochran-Siegle has scored World Cup points twice this season for super G (Beaver Creek, Crans Montana).
- He has won four NorAm races this winter and leads the tour standings in both downhill and super G.
- Chris Beckmann was the last American to win Jr. Worlds downhill gold with victory in 2006.
- Teammate Bryce Bennett (Olympic Valley, CA) was 10th and Scott Snow (Sagle, ID) 30th.
- The Junior World Championships continue Saturday with the women's giant slalom final.
QUOTES
Ryan Cochran-Siegle
Today couldn't have gone any better for me. This is definitely the biggest win of my career and it's something I was looking forward to in coming here. I'm glad I was able to execute. It was really sunny and warm and I just wanted to stick to my plan - make sure I had some good elevation above the gates and to press all the jumps.
I knew that it would be soft and the snow held up a little bit better than it did during training days. Keeping ahead of it was big today.
It's special to have my mom her, winning in front of here makes me proud, and by taking the first win it definitely gives me more confidence for the coming races. I have a good chance in super G, but in the technical races I will have to really ski well for a podium.
My cousin Jess [Kelley] was second in her World Juniors in Italy 10 years ago, but it's nice to add this medal to our family collection. I love to ski around and visit with the families when I'm home, but even if they're not skiing, it's cool to see all those kids having a good time.
RESULTS
Official Results
