Weibrecht Snags Fifth in Kvitfjell

KVITFJELL, Norway (March 8, 2015)—It was a tough day in Kvitfjell, with 21 DNFs in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup super G. Only 38 racers made it down the difficult course, with Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) tying his career-best super G result in fifth place. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was back to his dominating form, winning the race, with Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria second and Dustin Cook of Canada third.

Weibrecht was excited about his race, which wasn’t his best, but he put down a clean, solid run. “The snow is really soft and it’s not an easy race. It took a lot of tactics,” said Weibrecht after his run. “It’s just a really, really tough race, but I’m pretty satisfied.”

The soft, spring-like snow hindered the athletes on the course, causing most of the 21 DNFs. “If you’re off the line at all, you get nothing back from your skis,” Weibrecht said, who skied cleanly for the most part, but got in a little trouble in the difficult section of the course. “That makes it really tricky.” Both Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) and Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA) were caught up in the soft snow, causing them to go out.

Jansrud's win solidified his lead as the overall super G skier in the season. This is his first crystal globe and discipline title. In the hunt for the super G globe were Austrians Hannes Reichelt and Matthias Mayer, both of whom did not finish. Jansrud is second in the overall title to Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who still has two more tech events to go before the World Cup Finals.

Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) was the second American finisher in 23rd. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) was 24th and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) attacked from starting 53rd, finishing 26th.

The men’s speed team now gets ready for the World Cup Finals in Meribel, France, which starts March 18, while the tech guys head to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia for one last series before the Finals.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Andrew Weibrecht’s fifth place matched his career-best World Cup super G set earlier this year at Kitzbuehel.
• Weibrecht was 12th in Saturday’s downhill.
• The super G crystal globe has been won by a Norwegian in five of the revious nine seasons, including in each of the last three years.
• Watch the race on Universal Sports Network at 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday.

QUOTES
Andrew Weibrecht
I’m happy with the result. I don’t feel like I skied my best, but I did ski solid. It’s just really tough. The snow is really soft and it’s not an easy race. It took a lot of tactics. It’s just a really, really tough race, but I’m pretty satisfied.

The biggest thing is that the snow was really soft. If you’re off the line at all, you get nothing back from your skis. That makes it really tricky.

RESULTS
Men's super G results