Beaver Creek: Late U.S. starters struggle in GS

BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Jake Zamansky was one of five U.S. men’s racers who failed to finish the first run of Saturday’s giant slalom on a difficult set on the Birds of Prey course.
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Jake Zamansky was one of five U.S. men’s racers who failed to finish the first run of Saturday’s giant slalom on a difficult set on the Birds of Prey course.
    Zamansky, coming off a third-place result in Monday’s Super Series NorAm GS at Keystone, was laying down a solid run and appeared poised to make the top 30 and earn a second run before crashing into the second-to-last gate on the course and falling.
    Asked what happened, Zamansky didn’t have an answer.
    “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “I hit my head. I don’t know. It just happened so fast. Whatever.”
“… Sometimes when you’re going for it, you crash. That’s just the way it goes. That’s the sport.
Zamansky started No. 42 and said he got a good course report, not that he needed too much insider knowledge of the track. He’s tackled the course many times in races and training. He admitted to having “a few bobbles” during his run and said he may have overskied the relatively flat top section.
    “It’s pretty straightforward. The hill skis similar every time we race on it, so you kind of just go,” he said.
    Erik Schlopy, starting No. 15, also failed to finish his first run. Also skiing out were Tom Rothrock, Warner Nickerson and Kevin Francis.     
    Zamansky will look to rebound in Sunday’s slalom. He earned a start by winning a time trial at Keystone in mid-November. Also slated to join Zamansky in the slalom are Bode Miller, Ted Ligety, Rothrock, Jimmy Cochran and Roger Brown. T.J. Lanning was scheduled to start but likely won’t after crashing in the super combined downhill on Thursday.