Ligety in Second after First Run

SOELDEN, Austria – After the first run at Soelden it was any one’s races with six racers within 15 hundredths of a second. At the conclusion of the first run Frenchman Cyprien Richard had squeaked by number one starter Ted Ligety by two hundreds of a second, Austria’s Phillip Schoeghofer was tied for third place with Davide Simoncelli .03 back of the leader.

“It does not feel good out there right now,” Ligety said.”The snow was pretty chunky so it was hard to get a good edge in the snow,” he added.

Finland’s popular Kalle Palander, making his first start in two years, drew some of the morning’s biggest cheers as he skied to 11th position wearing bib 24. The affable Finn has been battling a nagging leg injury with a lot of pain, but finally seems to have overcome the problem.

Looking trimmer than in past seasons, USA’s Bode Miller, who started 33, comfortably secured a second run, finishing twenty-third. The rest of the U.S. starters, Tommy Ford, Warner Nickerson, Tim Jitloff, Will Gregorak and Nolan Kasper did not qualify for a second run. All finished well back of 30th.