Nyman Leads Men on Lauberhorn

WENGEN, Switzerland (Jan. 18, 2015)—It was thigh-burning, legs-shaking race at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Wengen, complete with crashes, screaming fans and course holds. Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) was the top American finisher of the day, grabbing 14th place, while Hannes Reichelt from Austria took first. Competing on home turf, Beat Feuz and Carlo Janka of Switzerland rounded out the podium.

It was a perfect bluebird day on the Lauberhorn—one of the classic downhills on the World Cup circuit. The men reached 100mph speeds in front of the 30-40,000-person crowd, and had to put everything they had into this course—the fastest guys had times of 2 minutes, 36 seconds, which makes this the longest World Cup downhill.

Nyman was thrilled about his 14th place finish—especially because he is still recovering from being sick, which left him low-energy throughout the week. “Steven is finally feeling better,” said Sasha Rearick, men’s head coach. “He had the pukes a couple times.”

Nyman confirmed his feelings about his run. “I’m happy with my run overall. I surprised myself today,” he said. “I had some energy. I never even got to ski the top and I was pretty fast up there.”

Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) had a good run, as well—skiing to 23rd place. Crashing into the finish, he looked to the board to see his result and pumped his fist in excitement. “That’s all you can do—give all the energy you have,” Goldberg said, after his run. “We ran about an hour and a half after the top guys. I’m definitely happy.”

Travis Ganong finishes in 31st in Wengen, Switzerland. (Getty Images-AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA)—who finished 44th and 31st respectively—were not thrilled with their results, both getting caught in the soft snow. Their thoughts have now turned to Kitzbuehel. “On a hill like [Wengen], I just haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll try again next year,” said Ganong. “With Kitzbuehel, I know the hill well now and can excel there. I can’t wait to get on the Streif.”

Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO) did not finish, skiing out after hitting the fence.

The speed team now prepares for the infamous Kitzbuehel downhill, with the first training run on Tuesday and an alpine combined on Thursday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Lauberhorn downhill is 2.78 miles—the longest on the World Cup circuit.
• Steven Nyman has had only one better result on the Lauberhorn—11th place in 2008.
• Bode Miller—who won the Wengen downhill in 2007 and 2008—foreran the race.
• Universal Sports will re-air the race on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., and on Monday at 12:00 p.m.

QUOTES
Steven Nyman
My energy has gotten better day-to-day-to-day. I was really happy they moved it back to Sunday. I’m amazed we ran the full thing today. I thought we might run three quarters of it or something.

My legs are toast by the Ziel-S [finish jump]. I lost a lot of time down there. But I’m happy with my run overall. I surprised myself today. I had some energy. I never even got to ski the top and I was pretty fast up there.

With all the preparation of the course, there are definitely some balls [of snow]. They got the [snow] cat out a lot and they tried slipping a lot out, but there is some soft snow. Marco radioed up to me and just said, “Stay in the track and don’t get out of it. It gets soft out there.” He made that mistake. Thanks to him. He saved me.

I don’t know if the Swiss guys trained here a lot, but there’s a special thing about racing at home. I feel that in Beaver Creek—the desire to dig deeper and deeper and deeper. I think they feel that here. What’s unique here is how demanding this thing is physically—its length. It’s home-court advantage and hopefully I can tap into that at Worlds.

On Kitzbuehel, I like how I’m coming together physically. I like my position on my skis. I just want to attack it more than I ever had. I think 17th is the best I’ve ever done there. Hopefully I can improve on that—get a top 10 or reach for the podium and see what I’m capable of.

Jared Goldberg
That’s the second time I’ve crashed here in the finish. I was definitely on the edge in the last turns. That’s all you can do—give all the energy you have. We ran about an hour and a half after the top guys. I’m definitely happy. The course was cooking in the sun, and it’s been getting darker. It was like running 90th.

Travis Ganong
I just didn’t have a very good run. I felt good in places, but I kept getting dragged low into the soft snow. There’s so much powder and soft snow on the low line. It was just beat up when I went and I got caught on a couple key sections on the exit of the turn. It just kills your speed. I felt like my skiing was pretty good, but tactically, I just didn’t adjust for the soft snow. I thought I could hammer still, but I needed more shape on the top of my turns so I didn’t get dragged low. It’s unfortunate that it was so soft, but I just have to re-focus and go to Kitzbuehel and do it again.

I’m going to go to Kitzbuehel and hope the snow is money and do what I normally do. On a hill like [Wengen], I just haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll try again next year. With Kitzbuehel, I know the hill well now and I can excel there. I can’t wait to get on the Streif.

RESULTS
Official results