Nyman Posts Career-Best Super-G Finish

Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) is starting to feel a lot more like himself these days, except a bit faster! On Wednesday, he posted a career-best FIS World Alpine Ski Championships super-G result, finishing in a three-way tie for eighth in Are, Sweden.

“I’ve been feeling really rusty since Wengen and banging my head,” said Nyman, who suffered a concussion in downhill training run crash last month. “I was going through the concussion protocol, and my body just hasn’t felt that great. But when I got on this snow and I started, I was like ‘Wow! This feels awesome!’”

The 36-year-old veteran, Nyman’s previous best super-G result was ninth in a FIS Ski World Cup race in Val Gardena, Italy, 13 years ago. But this season, he has shown a steady progression in super-G.

“This year, super-G has been quite good for me. I’ve been starting in the back. Starting in the 60s every race, and knocking it into the top 30 in pretty much every race except for one, and even one time 17th,” he said. “So I know I’ve got the speed, especially since starting in the back, but my vision and my ability to really attack lately hasn’t been that great because of hitting my head, and just like a little fear is inside of me. But I just said, ‘respect the course, this is something you’re good at!’”

An indeed he was good on Wednesday, except for just one small mistake that kept him from a top-five, or possibly even a podium result.

“Into the kind of like halfpipe turn, I came in too direct two turns before that and I had to throw is sideways and I lost a lot of speed,” Nyman said. “But other than that I executed quite well and I’m happy. This is actually my second top 10 ever in super-G.”

Italy’s Dominik Paris took the gold in Wednesday’s race, edging out France’s Johan Clarey by a mere .09-seconds. Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria took the bronze. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.) posted another impressive super-G result, finishing a career-best 11th. Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, Calif.) was 23rd from bib 50, skiing the best super-G he has skied since the Santa Caterina World Cup in 2016, coming into the finish corral with a big smile on his face and excitement for the upcoming downhill. Alpine Director Jesse Hunt commented after the race that today’s results for the men are a great start to World Championships, and a good step in the right direction heading into the next two weeks.

Up next at the World Championships, the men compete in downhill Saturday, and Nyman is fired up to race and imagining the possibility of making a childhood dream come true.

“It would be an absolute dream come true to win a medal, and win the World Championships,” Nyman said. “It is something I have dreamt of as a kid - my entire life. For some reason, the World Championships mean more to me than the Olympics. It is something that has inspired me, watching (Daron) Rahlves (the 2001 super-G World Champion), and watching just amazing performances from the Norwegians in the past. (Kjetil André) Aamodt was a hero of mine. It’s something that sounds cool - the World Champion!”

“I felt comfortable on this hill back in 2007, and obviously I feel comfortable now, so hopefully things can come together,” he added, reflecting back to the 2007 World Championships in Are where he finished 21st in the downhill.

RESULTS
Men’s World Championship super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Friday, Feb. 8
5:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s alpine combined downhill, Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s alpine combined downhill, Are, SWE - NBCSN*
10:00 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s alpine combined slalom, Are, SWE - NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 9
6:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBC*
6:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 10
6:30 a.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBC*
10:30 p.m. - FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill - Are, SWE - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are 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.