Ligety Rebounds To Lead U.S. in France

VAL D’ISERE, France (Dec. 9, 2017) – Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) rebounded from a disappointing first run to lead three members of the U.S. Ski Team men’s alpine team into the top 22 at the FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom in Val d’Isere, France Saturday.

Ligety finished an uncharacteristic 30th in the first run after getting tripped-up on a left turn on the challenging Stade Olympique De Bellevarde track. He rebounded to post the fourth-fasted second-run time to finish just outside the top 15 in 16th. Tim Jitloff (Reno, Nev.) was 20th and Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) finished 22nd.

“This place is brutal … it doesn’t feel good either when you win,” said Ligety, who won a giant slalom in Val d’Isere in 2010. “It’s a tough adjustment after skiing for a month in easy, nice, grippy Colorado snow and then getting thrown right off the plane and into this.”

Frenchman Alexis Pinturault mastered the technical, bumpy track, made even more difficult due to flat light and a light snow falling, to win his 10th career World Cup giant slalom. Germany’s Stefan Luitz was second, followed by Austria’s Marcel Hirscher in third.
 

Shiffrin 20th as Vonn Suffers Back Injury

On the women’s World Cup circuit, Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail. Colo.) led four Americans into the top 30, finishing 20th at the FIS Ski World Cup super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Lindsey Vonn suffered a back compression just a few gates into her run but was able to ski through the pain and finished 24th.  Her injury is currently being evaluated and further information on her status is forthcoming.

Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho) was 29th, and Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) finished 30th in her first race back on the World Cup circuit since suffering a knee injury last season.

Swiss Jasmine Flury dazzled the home-country crowd with her first career World Cup victory. Countrywomen Michelle Gisin was second, followed Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather in third. Shiffrin maintained her overall World Cup lead by 145 points over Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg, who finished sixth Saturday.

Up next, the women will compete in an alpine combined event Sunday, a makeup from Friday’s canceled race, with a morning super-G, followed by an afternoon slalom.  The men will race slalom Sunday in Val d’Isere.

RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Dec. 10
3:30 a.m. – Men’s slalom run 1; Val d’Isere –olympicchannel.com
4:30 a.m. – Women’s super-G (alpine combined first run); St. Moritz – Olympic Channel TV
6:00 a.m. – Men’s slalom run 2; Val d’Isere – Olympic Channel TV
7:30 a.m. – Women’s slalom (alpine combined second run); St. Moritz – Olympic Channel TV