Dominating Win for Hirscher
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (March 1, 2015) - Austria's Marcel Hirscher took revenge for his World Championship loss, posting a 1.99 second first run before charging to a 3.28 second win in an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) was fourth.
Ligety was eighth after first run, on a run he descibed as like "skiing on one of those kiddy ball rooms where you jump in the pit." The course was tough in the morning, with guys struggling to find speed out of the snow. But Hirscher was able to figure it out, and the normally competitive Ligety did nothing but praise Hirscher's skiing. "That was impressive," he said. "He was able to put on a massive margin on us and that second run he skied awesome. Impressive piece of skiing, that's for sure."
Ligety's second run moved him to first place for a good number of racers, and he sat in third until Hirscher bumped him off the podium. Hometown boy Felix Neureuther was second and Benni Raich of Austria was third, in his first World Cup podium in a year.
Tommy Ford grabbed GS points in Garmisch, finishing in 23rd place. (Mitch Gunn)
Although sick, Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) pulled out the second fastest GS run second run to move into 10th. Tommy Ford (Bend, OR) had a phenomenal first run—finishing in 13th—and was still in the points after a small bobble second run put him in 23rd.
The men now get ready for Kvitfjell, Norway for a downhill and super G. Two more World Cup giant slaloms remain: one in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and the World Cup Finals GS in Meribel, France.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The win gave Hirscher a 188-point lead over Ligety in the World Cup GS standings with only two events remaining.
- This was the third-largest winning margin in men's ski racing.
- Watch the race on Universal Sports Network on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. EST.
QUOTES
Ted Ligety
That was impressive. First run was like skiing on one of those kiddy ball rooms where you jump in the pit. You have no ability to get anything out of the turn. [Marcel Hirscher] was the only one who could get anything out of the turns. He was able to put on a massive margin on us and that second run he skied awesome. Impressive piece of skiing, that’s for sure.
Tommy Ford
First run was a cranker. The snow was good. I took advantage of that and was able to make clean turns the whole way and maintain my ankles and movement the whole way down. I got a good position for second run, and the snow changed a bit, and I didn’t quite adapt. I had troubles coming onto the flats—I kind of chundered out. But I got back on it and stayed strong into the finish and got some World Cup points. It was softer second run, more moisture in the snow.
RESULTS
Men's Giant Slalom
