Gold medal two for Ted Ligety in Schladming

By Published On: February 11th, 2013Comments Off on Gold medal two for Ted Ligety in Schladming

Clean off the front seat. We got a new driver.  Ted Ligety took his second gold medal of the 2013 World Championships by winning the combined Monday night (Feb 11) with the best skiing of his life. He matched many of the top downhillers in the morning, did a little training and relaxing in the afternoon and then attacked the toughest slalom hill in the world free falling into a stadium packed with 24,000 fans on a hill so icy it reflected the flood lights.

The silver went to Croatia’s magnificent Ivica Kostelic and Romed Baumann created the loudest roar from a throbbing crowd of Austrian faithful with the bronze. Aksel Lund Svindal and Benjamin Raich straddled and skied out trying to milk too much speed out of a course that would not allow it.

“Pretty sweet,” Ligety said to Svindal. “It wasn’t easy hanging with you in downhill.”

Certainly the downhill was what set up his gold medal. Baumann had won the morning leg and Svindal had been second with Cristof Innerhofer, Adrien Theaux and Domink Paris in the next three spots. Ligety had finished sixth, less than a second out, and he was pretty sure he could beat all those ahead of him in the night slalom run. He was more worried about Kostelic and Raich in tenth and 12th.

When Raich went out he turned his attention to Kostelic and the Croate took a measured attack, hitting the course hard at the top and bottom, but making sure of completing his charge on the steepest and iciest pitch.

“When I heard (Kostelic) was only .19 ahead of a downhill skier I knew he must have put the brakes on a little bit,” said Ligety, “So I just tried to ski as smart as I can – I’m not always that smart in slalom –   have a solid run and not make too many mistakes.”

He was more than merely solid. Ligety posted the second fastest slalom run of the night putting up an enormous 1.15 of a second margin on Kostelic that he knew none of the remaining downhill skiers could touch.

“Ted killed it,” said Svindal. “I was actually pretty fast, but a straddle is a classic slalom mistake.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a combined podium,” said Ligety. “I’ve always thought I had a chance. With that kind of a downhill run and a buffer on the slalom guys, that was great. I haven’t won a combined since 2006 (Olympic gold).

About the only thing Ligety didn’t do perfectly was completing a Didier Cuche style ski flip in the finish area.

Give the man the keys. He’s earned it.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Men’s World Championship combined, Schladming, Austria, Feb. 11, 2013
Equipment

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Ligety, Head/Head/Head
2 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Baumann, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
4 Romar, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Viletta, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
6 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
7 Zurbriggen, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
8 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Paris, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
10 Mayer, Head/Head/Head

Men’s World Championship combined, Schladming, Austria, Feb. 11, 2013. … It is the sixth event the 42nd World Championships. … the third for men. … It is the 283rd World Championship race. … the 73rd combined and the 37th combined for men.

It is the third World Championship gold medal for Ted Ligety and the second of these championships matching the US record. … His three gold medals have each come in different disciplines (gs 2011, sg and cmb 2013). … He also owns a bronze medal in GS from Val d’Isere (2009). … and an Olympic gold in combined (2006). … He had not placed better than fourth in combined in World Cup. … It is his sixth victory of the season.

It is the third career World Championship medal for Ivica Kostelic, each coming in a different discipline. … He won gold in slalom (2003) and bronze in sg (2011). … He also has three Olympic silver medals, two in combined (2006&2010) and one in slalom (2010). … He has won nine World Cup combineds including Kitzbuehel this season.

It is the first World Championship medal for Romed Baumann and the first of these championships for the Austrian men. … Baumann has placed on nine World Cup podiums, five of them in combined.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle reportedly tore his ACL and MCL in the DH leg. He did not fall.

Medal Count
USA – 3 – (gold, gold, silver)
FRA –  3 – (gold, silver, bronze)
GER – 2 – (gold, bronze)
SLO – 2 – (gold, silver)
ITA – 2 – (silver, silver)
NOR – 2 – (gold, bronze)
AUT – 2 – (bronze, bronze)
CRO – 1 – (silver)
SUI – 1 – (silver)

Schladming (AUT)
FIS World Ski Championships
Men’s Super Combined
Feb 11, 2013

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  27  534562 LIGETY Ted  1984  USA   2:02.10  54.86  2:56.96  0.00
 2  22  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica  1979  CRO   2:02.75  55.36  2:58.11  6.95
 3  16  51215 BAUMANN Romed  1986  AUT   2:01.38  56.75 &n
bsp;2:58.13
 7.07
 4  9  180570 ROMAR Andreas  1989  FIN   2:02.93  55.37  2:58.30  8.10
 5  13  511352 VILETTA Sandro  1986  SUI   2:03.17  55.21  2:58.38  8.59
 6  21  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis  1991  FRA   2:04.73  53.68  2:58.41  8.77
 7  8  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan  1981  SUI   2:03.01  55.41  2:58.42  8.83
 8  18  511313 JANKA Carlo  1986  SUI   2:02.41  56.24  2:58.65  10.22
 9  15  291459 PARIS Dominik  1989  ITA   2:02.07  56.81  2:58.88  11.61
 10  11  53902 MAYER Matthias  1990  AUT   2:02.16  57.21  2:59.37  14.57
 11  7  150398 BANK Ondrej  1980  CZE   2:04.26  55.43  2:59.69  16.51
 12  23  561217 KOSI Klemen  1991  SLO   2:02.81  58.12  3:00.93  24.00
 13  29  700830 ZAMPA Adam  1990  SVK   2:05.56  55.68  3:01.24  25.88
 14  34  20267 ESTEVE Kevin  1989  AND   2:04.91  58.21  3:03.12  37.25
 15  1  150495 VRABLIK Martin  1982  CZE   2:06.37  57.18  3:03.55  39.85
 16  26  430429 BYDLINSKI Maciej  1988  POL   2:04.64  58.97  3:03.61  40.21
 17  24  92534 CHONGAROV Nikola  1989  BUL   2:06.15  58.62  3:04.77  47.22
 18  45  491151 DE LA CUESTA Paul  1988  SPA   2:05.10  59.82  3:04.92  48.13
 19  6  660021 DANILOCHKIN Yuri  1991  BLR   2:05.91  59.07  3:04.98  48.49
 20  37  400237 MEINERS Maarten  1992  NED   2:07.81  58.43  3:06.24  56.11
 21  48  710320 LAIKERT Igor  1991  BIH   2:07.05  59.45  3:06.50  57.68
 22  4  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier  1980  ARG   2:10.34  58.22  3:08.56  70.14
 23  28  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander  1984  RUS   2:13.75  55.42  3:09.17  73.83
 24  36  400016 WANDERS Arjan&nb
sp;
1978  NED   2:07.28  1:05.12  3:12.40  93.36
 25  5  510997 BERTHOD Marc  1983  SUI   2:03.12  1:10.13  3:13.25  98.50
 26  52  690086 FESHCHUK Rostyslav  1990  UKR   2:11.61  1:02.35  3:13.96  102.79
 27  39  20324 OLIVERAS Marc  1991  AND   2:05.82  1:09.86  3:15.68  113.19
 28  30  293550 MARSAGLIA Matteo  1985  ITA   2:02.43  1:16.66  3:19.09  133.81
Disqualified 2nd run
   17  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas  1984  FRA         
Disqualified 1st run
   49  670029 PIMENOV Taras  1984  KAZ         
   42  170131 FAARUP Christoffer  1992  DAN         
   41  561216 KLINE Bostjan  1991  SLO         
   32  491129 TERRA Ferran  1987  SPA         
Did not finish 2nd run
   51  700868 FALAT Matej  1993  SVK         
   50  670058 KOSHKIN Dmitriy  1986  KAZ         
   44  380341 ULLRICH Max  1994  CRO         
   43  670037 ZAKURDAEV Igor  1987  KAZ         
   38  531452 BIESEMEYER Thomas  1989  USA         
   31  501439 HEDIN Douglas  1990  SWE         
   25  90131 GEORGIEV Georgi  1987  BUL         
   20  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund  1982  NOR         
   19  293006 INNERHOFER Christof  1984  ITA         
   14  192746 THEAUX Adrien  1984  FRA         
   10  50625 RAICH Benjamin  1978  AUT         
Did not finish 1st run
   53  30283 FREEMAN CRESPO Ignacio  1992  ARG         
   47  550022 RODE Roberts  1987  LAT         
   46  430472 KLUSAK Michal  1990  POL         
   40  670052 KHUBER Martin  1992  KAZ         
   35  530165 BRANDENBURG Will  1987  USA         
   33  400281 VAN HEEK Marvin  1991  NED         
   12  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar  1987  ITA         
   3  6530319 COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan  1992  USA         
   2  194190 ROGER Brice  1990  FRA&nbs
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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”