Ganong Seventh In Kitzbuehel Downhill
On Friday, Travis Ganong led the Americans in the downhill on the legendary Streif in Kitzbuehel, Austria, posting a seventh-place finish.
Due to snowy weather, the iconic Hahnenkamm start moved down the track to the reserve start, cutting the course by five seconds and reducing the flight time on the Mausefalle jump, a treacherous pitch that threw racers about 200 feet down course right out of the gate during training. Ganong, who tweaked his back during the previous downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, chose to lay off the gas in training throughout the week to give it everything he had on race day. In combination with a slight course change and a well-executed plan, Ganong trusted his gut and pushed on race day to snag the only top 10 for the Americans. Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde earned his first-ever win on the Streif, followed by France's Johan Clarey in second and a surprise third-place finish by teammate Blaise Giezendanner (from bib 43).
"The short break we had between Wengen and Kitzbuehel, I was really worried about [my back], and I worked all day every day trying to make it feel better and better and I took it easy on the training runs so I could push on the race day," said Ganong. "Today for some reason I woke up and I felt really good physically, so I decided this morning to push. I love this hill more than any other downhill on the circuit, it's so fun to ski, and it kind of fits more into style and it all worked out today."
Unlike years past, the U.S. men have a second shot at the Hahnenkahmm downhill on Sunday, Jan. 23. Bryce Bennett, who finished 11th on Friday, will seek to push through to the top 10 and reflect his Wednesday training run finish in seventh. Steven Nyman will try to improve on a 21st-place finish and break into the top 20. Ryan Cochran-Siegle will look to avenge past crashes on the Streif and improve his finish of 38th. Sam Morse looks to improve on 37th, and Erik Arvidsson will make his second-career start in Kitzbuehel. Arvidsson crashed and DNFed on Friday, but he was thankfully able to get up and ski down.
Men's slalom will break up the downhill weekend on Saturday, Jan. 22.
RESULTS
Men's Downhill
HOW TO WATCH
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*All times EST.
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022
4:15 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Slalom, run 1 - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock and skiworldcup.live
5:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Downhill - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Ski and Snowboard Live, Streaming Peacock
7:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Slalom, run 2 - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock and skiworldcup.live
Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022
5:45 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - LIVE, Cortina d'Ampezzo, ITA, Streaming Ski and Snowboard Live, Streaming Peacock
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Downhill - LIVE, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Streaming Peacock and skiworldcup.live
2:00 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Downhill - delayed broadcast, Kitzbuehel, AUT, Broadcast CNBC
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Broadcast and streaming schedules are updated on a daily basis throughout the season.
