BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Last February at the 2015 World Championships, Marcel Hirscher sat in first place after run one of giant slalom. When the dust settled after an exhilarating second run, Hirscher was bested by Ted Ligety for the title by 0.45 seconds. Today, he wasn’t about to let the top step of the podium slip through his fingers two trips to Beaver Creek in a row.

On a day that saw pre-race favorite Ligety and French aces Alexis Pinturault and Thomas Fanara ski out in the first run, Hirscher crossed the line 0.98 seconds ahead of Frenchman Victor Muffat-Jeandet, with Norwegian wunderkind Henrik Kristoffersen rounding out the podium in third, 1.31 seconds behind.

Today marks the 15th time Hirscher has stood atop a World Cup GS podium, surpassing Herman Maier and Benjamin Raich for the all-time GS win record for Austrian men. Hirscher now sits one victory shy of tying Annemarie Moser-Proell’s all-time Austrian record of 16 career GS wins.

“It’s always worth it to come to Beaver Creek, especially under these perfect conditions,” Hirscher said in the finish. “Yesterday’s super G win was already a big step for me, and today’s giant slalom just crowned this weekend with success. I was relaxed before the giant slalom because even if I didn’t finish, I had those 100 points in the pocket.”

When asked whether his approach changed at all after watching his two closest competitors in Ligety and Pintruault crash within sight of the finish, his Bode-esque answer offered insight into the competitive mindset of one of the most prolific technical skiers the sport has ever seen.

“You know me, I’m always skiing against the time, not against Ted, or Felix, or whoever else,” he said. “I’m always searching for the perfect turns, and maybe I can be faster than the best time or as close as possible to the best time. In general, I’m happy with my skiing so far and hopefully I can bring this momentum back to Europe.”

When speaking of his record-setting victory, Hirscher looked forward to climbing the all-time wins ladder, setting his sights towards the closest Austrian on the list, Benjamin Raich.

“Now we are getting closer to the records that are I think pretty heavy. It is great to be on top of both technical disciplines. It is really amazing and I’m looking forward to Benjamin Raich’s record (of 36 career World Cup wins to Hirscher’s 33). Hopefully I can catch that too in a couple of years.”

Muffat-Jeandet’s second-place finish is his second trip to a World Cup podium, and first in GS, after finishing second in last season’s Wengen combined.

“It was pretty special because last year was my best season ever. I finished with the sixth world ranking in GS, and I worked really hard this summer,” Muffat-Jeandet said. “I am really happy because we really worked harder after Soelden and yesterday I had the chance to race in the super G. I was a little bit upset because I was too clean and not fast, so I was thinking to me, ‘OK, today no regrets and just push maximum and be fast at the finish.’

“My first run showed me that I’m on the right way but then I had to bring in down in the second run,” he added. “Last year I often had a good run and an average one, so I’m happy that I’m finally able to build a podium placement on two solid runs. I think this is a special step for me, but every single ski race is different and you need to be able to adapt. I’ll analyse my runs and try to use this for next week’s races in Val d’Isère.”

For Kristoffersen, his third-place finish felt almost like crossing the finish line on Norwegian soil.

“It felt really great. I think that the Norwegians have a lot of support in the U.S., and especially here in Beaver Creek,” he explained. “Especially with Aksel (Svindal) and Kjetil (Jansrud) doing so good the past three years now and also before. It’s pretty cool.”

With Kristofferson being the most exciting young talent to hit the World Cup since Hirscher first burst onto the world stage, another podium just builds the excitement heading into the rest of the season.

“It was an exciting race, especially between (Andre) Myhrer and me – we were 0.01 apart, that’s tight. It’s not a hill that suits me very well. It’s pretty flat, so I’m very happy with my second place today. I could have skied a little faster in the first run. I made some tactical mistakes going too high in the line, but the second run was pretty good.”

For the Americans, Tim Jitloff and David Chodounsky both made it into the points , finishing in 14th and 16th place, respectively.

“It’s nice to always be in the points, but I’m looking for a little more than 14th place,” Jitloff admitted. “I skied really good today, solid first run. I think I just could have cleaned it up a little on that first run. In the second run I felt like I skied really well … I was pushing it towards the bottom, had a mistake there on the final pitch. The snow was super, super aggressive. I’m a guy that likes to push hard on the ski, so that’s not necessarily my forté. I’ll do better at places like Alta Badia where it’s a little bit icy. It it what it is, you have to accept that and move on.”

Chodounsky, who is known more for his slalom skills, was excited to start his World Cup season with some hard-earned GS points.

“It’s been a long fall, a long prep season, it just feels great to be racing again,” Chodounsky said. “To have it start this way, with a GS, I’m pretty psyched.”

In a first run that had its fair share of crashes, Ligety was skiing strong, leading at each interval until he uncharacteristically pinched off the line over Harrier Jump and slid out on his side, crashing through a gate and ending his day prematurely.

Also of note was Canadian Erik Read’s impressive jump from the 57th starting position to an unofficial 21st-place finish. However, after equipment control, Read was found to be 0.16mm over the 50mm limit for stand height underneath the toe and was subsequently disqualified.

It was a heavy blow for the former Canadian national team athlete who now skis for the University of Denver and was offered a discretionary starting spot in the day’s race. After the disqualification, Read took to Facebook to express his disappointment with how the day concluded.

“Bittersweet day qualifying for my first time in a World Cup giant slalom,” he said. “Pushed it hard and ended up coming 21st at the end of the day from bib 57 before being disqualified. Being 0.16mm over in the toe height is tough to swallow but I’m going to hold my head high with the way I skied both runs. Thank you for all the words of support over the last few hours. It’s a long season and I’m hungry for more.”

The men’s tour now heads across the pond to Val d’Isere, France, for slalom and GS races Dec. 12-13.

The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Muffat-Jeandet, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
5. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
6. Eisath, Blizzard/Tecnica
7. Faivre, Head/Head/Head
8. Tonetti, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9. Schoerghofer, Fischer/Fischer/Fisher
10. Leitner, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

• Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Beaver Creek, USA, Dec. 6, 2015. … It is the sixth of 45 races (with one cancellation) on the men’s 2015-16 World Cup schedule … the second of 10 scheduled GSs. … It is the 62^nd World Cup race at Beaver Creek and the 15^th GS. … Ted Ligety has won the last four GSs at Beaver Creek and five of the last six.
• It is the 33^rd career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher and his 15^th in GS. … It is his second win and third podium in three finishes this season. … He matches Alberto Tomba’s GS mark for sixth all-time and fourth among men. … Winning margin is 0.98 of a second. … Third place is 1.31 back. … Top 10 are within two seconds.
• Victor Muffat-Jeandet matches his career-best finish from a combined at Wengen last season. … His previous best GS finish had been fifth scored at Soelden last season, Beaver Creek last season and at Meribel, also last season.
• It is the 12^th career World Cup podium placing for Henrik Kristoffersen, his fourth in GS.
• It is the 13^th time Tim Jitloff has scored in the top 14 of a World Cup race. … It is his third best Beaver Creek finish. … David Chodounsky tops his previous best GS result, scored at Beaver Creek last season, by one placing. … It is the fourth career World Cup score – all in GS – for Phil Brown.
• Aksel Lund Svindal (did not start in race) leads the World Cup overall standings 317-260 over Hirscher. … Ted Ligety (DNF 1st run) is third with 180pts. … Travis Ganong (did not race) is fifth overall with 172pts and Andrew Weibrecht (did not qualify) is 10th at 117pts.
• Hirscher leads the GS standings 160-106 over Muffat-Jeandet. … Kristoffersen and Ligety are tied for third with 100pts.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 989-716 over Italy. … Norway is third with 705pts. … The U.S. is fifth with 586pts and Canada eighth with 126pts.

Official Results