Ligety Seventh in Beaver Creek GS

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (Dec. 3, 2017) – The fans at Beaver Creek were happy to cheer Ted Ligety’s return to giant slalom racing on the FIS Ski World Cup circuit Sunday, but Ligety was disappointed he didn’t deliver on one of his favorite tracks for the home crowd.

“I love racing here, this is one of my favorite hills, and that’s a big reason why I’m disappointed with seventh place today,” Ligety said. “It’s far and away the worst finish I’ve ever had at Beaver Creek.”

Competing in his first World Cup giant slalom in almost a year, Ligety (Park City, Utah) led the U.S. Ski Team alpine racers in seventh. Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.), starting bib 24, posted his first top-10 World Cup finish in 10th. Marcel Hirscher of Austria, the six-time overall World Cup champion, took the victory Sunday. Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was second and Germany’s Stefan Luitz was third.

Ligety finished second in the first run and was well positioned to challenge for his sixth giant slalom victory on the grippy Birds of Prey course. But one too many errors in the second run opened the door for the rest of the field.

“First run didn’t feel great, but I was in there and had some turns,” Ligety said. “The second run, I had some good turns here and there, but way too many little mistakes for this kind of aggressive snow.”

Meanwhile, Ford occupied the hot seat for quite a while - posting the 10th-fastest second run time - as a number of racers failed to unseat him.

“I was going down the hill from top to bottom and it was cool to do some good arcs,” Ford said. “The snow is awesome, so everyone is skiing well, and that’s what makes (this hill) challenging.”

The men’s World Cup circuit returns to Europe with slalom and giant slalom races in Val d’Isere, France Dec. 9-10, followed by super-G and downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, Dec. 15-16.

RESULTS
Men’s Giant Slalom