Ligety Leads Reemerging Tech Squad at Birds of Prey
Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) led a reemerging U.S. Ski Team men’s tech squad, finishing eighth, at the Birds of Prey FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom as four American’s scored World Cup points Sunday.
“It was awesome,” said Ligety, a five-time giant slalom winner at Beaver Creek, about having four American’s in the second run. “I’m really close with this group of guys and it’s been fun incorporating Brian (McLaughlin) into our group and awesome to see him actually stepping it up on race day. He’s been skiing fast all summer in training … and I’m really excited to have another guy in there.”
Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) was 15th as McLaughlin (Waitsfield, Vt.), who made his World Cup debut at Birds of Prey last season, finished 18th to score his first World Cup points. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) continued his impressive skiing, finishing 22nd and scoring World Cup points in his third discipline so far this season.
“They have been awesome to me,” said McLaughlin of his recent training with the U.S. Ski Team, a Green Mountain Valley School graduate who is skiing independently this season after spending a few years on the U.S. Ski Team Development squad, then the National University Team, and Dartmouth, where he was NCAA giant slalom champion in 2018. Along with the NCAA giant slalom title, he also grabbed the NorAm giant slalom title with guaranteed World Cup starts for the 2018-19 season. “They have been treating me as part of the team and it’s worked out really well so far.”
Returning from a knee injury last season, Germany’s Stefan Luitz pulled a surprising upset victory over Austrian ace Marcel Hirscher for his first career World Cup giant slalom victory. Switzerland’s Thomas Tumler also picked up his first career World Cup podium, finishing third.
First-year U.S. Ski Team member and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail alumnus Kyle Negomir made his World Cup debut on familiar grounds as part of the seven-member U.S. Team to start in Sunday's race.
“It’s pretty sweet being able to do your first World Cup in your backyard, so I was pretty pumped on it,” said Negomir. “I grew up working this race; I was setting B-net and slipping. And I foreran the GS here last year. It’s cool. It’s tough running in the back, but there is not as much pressure because you just go out and ski as hard as you can because you have got nothing to lose.”
Up next, the men’s World Cup circuit moves back to Europe with giant slalom and slalom races in Val d’Isere, France. Both events will be broadcast and stream live on the networks of NBC, including the Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA - the NBC Sports Network, and the NBC Sports Gold app.
RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom
HOW TO WATCH
All times EST.
Preliminary schedule, subject to change
*Same-day delayed broadcast
**Next-day broadcast
Sunday, Dec. 2
5:00 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom recap, Beaver Creek, Colo. - NBC*
6:30 p.m. - World Cup women’s super-G recap, Lake Louise, CAN - NBCSN*
11:30 p.m. - World Cup men’s giant slalom, run 2, Beaver Creek, Colo. - Olympic Channel
Saturday, Dec. 8
3:45 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom, run 1 - Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 a.m. - Women’s super-G, St. Moritz, SUI - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
6:45 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom, run 2 - Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold (Streaming)
7:00 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom, run 2 - Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel (Broadcast)
Saturday, Dec. 9
12:30 a.m. - Women’s super-G, St. Moritz, SUI - NBC Sports Network**
3:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom, run 1 - Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
4:15 a.m. - Women’s parallel slalom qualifying, St. Moritz, SUI - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
6:15 a.m. - Men’s slalom, run 2 - Val d’Isere, FRA - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold
7:00 a.m. - Women’s parallel slalom, St. Moritz, SUI - Olympic Channel & NBC Sports Gold (Streaming)
7:30 a.m. - Women’s parallel slalom, St. Moritz, SUI - Olympic Channel (Broadcast)
5:00 a.m. - Women’s parallel slalom, St. Moritz, SUI - NBC Sports Network*
Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow
