ALPINE SKI. SOELDEN, Austria – For three-time World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety, last season’s success is going to be a tough act to follow. Three back-to-back wins to kick things off is always unprecedented for any skier, especially in GS, and to follow it up, a world championship gold medal isn’t too bad either.

Although Ligety’s historically done well in Soelden, one notch on his belt that hasn’t been made yet is a victory here.

“Obviously, it’d be nice to finally win here,” Ligety said before afternoon training on the Rettenbach glacier Wednesday. “But I’d be happy with getting on the podium. I’d like to keep the podium streak rolling in Soelden and get some confidence for the rest of the season.”

Ligety’s record at Soelden includes three podiums. The worst he’s ever finished on the course was eighth in 2005. Two years ago – the last time the race was completed in Soelden – Ligety finished second to Didier Cuche by a half second. The previous year he was third behind Cuche and winner Daniel Albrecht and in 2007 he also finished second, less than a half a second behind Aksel Lund Svindal. Although many skiers name Soelden as among the toughest courses on the World Cup tech circuit, it suits the American just fine.

“It’s not tactically challenging at all,” Ligety said. “It’s a technical hill, but it’s not difficult to figure out where to do tactics. It’s pretty straightforward. There’s only a steep pitch and it’s flat on the bottom. There’s not a lot of rolls to it, so that makes it pretty easy to attack.”

After adverse weather canceled the men’s World Cup in Soelden last year, Ligety’s GS dominance began at the following race in Beaver Creek, where he won for the first time in front of the home crowd. He went on to win the following two races in Val d’Isere and Alta Badia, stumbled a bit in Adelboden and Hinterstoder, but bounced back to take world championship gold in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and then podium in Kranjska Gora. In other words, of the seven GS races that took place last season, Ligety was on the podium in five (including four victories). Before the storm blew into Soelden last year, Ligety was sitting in second place after the first run, just .02 seconds behind leader Cyprien Richard.

Although the terrain doesn’t intimidate him in Soelden, like anyone else, Ligety never knows how he measures up to others on the World Cup after months of not racing. But his preseason training was top-notch and he says Soelden is an ideal hill on which to open his season.

“This summer we had great training in Chile and New Zealand and it’s been great here as well,” Ligety said. “You couldn’t really ask for a better prep period. Soelden is a good hill for me, especially for the first race. You don’t have to think too much about it. You just go and ski hard. That’s the thing about the first race of the year, you never know how fast you’re skiing versus everybody else in the world … so it’s a good warm-up.”

As for firing into the season with back-to-back victories as he did last year, Ligety says “it’s not something I expect to achieve again,” but still, he agrees there’s not much room for improvement in his giant slalom skiing. Getting his slalom back to where it was several years ago another story. Following his Olympic gold medal in the combined event in 2006 and a fourth-place finish in slalom on the World Cup the same year, Ligety’s prowess has subsided in the tight gates, but he is aiming to bring it back.

“I skied a lot more volume this summer than I have in years past just because I wanted to get my slalom back to a level where I feel like I’m competitive, which I haven’t been for years,” he said. “That’s a big goal this season.”

By Shauna Farnell
FISalpine.com
Thursday 20 October 2011

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