Ganong Leads Back of Pack Attack

VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 14) - Travis Ganong led a back of the pack charge by the U.S. Ski Team in the Val Gardena super G, starting 58th and finishing 24th to lead five U.S. Ski Team athletes into the points. Ted Ligety was 25th to retain second in the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall standings behind race winner Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway. The men race downhill on Saturday before action shifts over the mountain to Alta Badia for Sunday's giant slalom.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) started 58th and landed 24th in the Val Gardena World Cup super G.
• Ganong led five U.S. Ski Team athletes into the points.
• Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) was 25th, remaining second in the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall behind race winner Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.
• Ganong was followed in 59th start by Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT), who finished 29th.
• Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY) was 27th and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid,  NY) 30th.
• The Val Gardena downhill is set for Saturday with giant slalom in nearby Alta Badia on Sunday.
• Universal Sports TV will broadcast the Val Gardena super G at 11:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. EST.

QUOTES
Travis Ganong
I've had really great speed in training. Today I was just approaching it like another training day. I was just trying to go for it as hard as I can and then react to any mistakes. Starting back there is tough. You have to have a really strong, strong run to punch it in there.

This is a real true downhill. It's not too turny, it's fast, big jumps and it follows the nature contour of the mountain. We all love to go fast. I'm looking for top 10 tomorrow - that's my goal.

Ted Ligety
This is not really a hill that suits me at all. It's more absorbing the terrain than turning. I skied OK but didn't run in a super advantageous spot. I need to score a lot more points to help me with the overall. Super G is good work for your GS - it's in the same skill set. It's good to work on terrain absorption on this hill. But I have a real chance on the hills where you have to make turns.

Alta Badia is one of the coolest hills on the World Cup. it's nice to be back on a real GS hill. It's one that all of us on the GS side look forward to.

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