Ligety lays it down in first run at Soelden
SOELDEN, Austria – In the highly anticipated giant slalom battle between Ted Ligety and last season’s title winner Marcel Hirscher, the American fired the opening salvo of the 2015-16 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup season by winning the first run in Soelden by a slim 0.17-second margin over the Austrian.
Hirscher took to the course down the Rettenbach glacier first and skied a smooth and consistent run in 1:12.47. Ligety’s style was less disciplined on the pitch than Hirscher’s but he carried more speed into the lower flat – traditionally regarded as the most critical section of the course – and was able to first make up a 0.16-second deficit to Hirscher before passing his time across the finishing flats.
Alexis Pinturault, another pre-race favorite who’s been on the Soelden podium for the past three years running, finished a surprising 1.48 seconds off Ligety in seventh behind two of his countrymen. Frenchman Thomas Fanara is third and in touch at 0.33 seconds back while teammate Victor Muffat-Jeandet sits fifth at 1.46 seconds out after the first run.
The U.S. Ski Team’s Tim Jitloff is the only other North American athlete who qualified for the second run. He’s just shy of three seconds behind Ligety in 18th. Starting with bib 62, Italian Manfred Moelgg blasted into 17th place with the biggest move in the first run. Second run is set to start at 12:45 p.m. local time.
Unofficial Results
1 | 3 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:12.30 | 1:12.30 | |||
2 | 1 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 1:12.47 | 1:12.47 | +0.17 | ||
3 | 5 | 191750 | FANARA Thomas | 1981 | FRA | 1:12.63 | 1:12.63 | +0.33 | ||
4 | 8 | 294890 | NANI Roberto | 1988 | ITA | 1:12.93 | 1:12.93 | +0.63 | ||
5 | 7 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 1:13.76 | 1:13.76 | +1.46 | ||
6 | 6 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 1:13.77 | 1:13.77 | +1.47 | ||
7 | 4 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 1:13.78 | 1:13.78 | +1.48 | ||
8 | 2 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 1:14.01 | 1:14.01 | +1.71 | ||
9 | 19 | 202437 | LUITZ Stefan | 1992 | GER | 1:14.29 | 1:14.29 | +1.99 | ||
10 | 18 | 194495 | FAIVRE Mathieu | 1992 | FRA | 1:14.44 | 1:14.44 | +2.14 | ||
11 | 15 | 51007 | SCHOERGHOFER Philipp | 1983 | AUT | 1:14.45 | 1:14.45 | +2.15 | ||
12 | 14 | 422304 | KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik | 1994 | NOR | 1:14.49 | 1:14.49 | +2.19 | ||
13 | 21 | 990048 | BORSOTTI Giovanni | 1990 | ITA | 1:14.52 | 1:14.52 | +2.22 | ||
14 | 23 | 380335 | ZUBCIC Filip | 1993 | CRO | 1:14.74 | 1:14.74 | +2.44 | ||
15 | 12 | 421669 | HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | 1:14.98 | 1:14.98 | +2.68 | ||
16 | 9 | 292967 | EISATH Florian | 1984 | ITA | 1:15.02 | 1:15.02 | +2.72 | ||
17 | 62 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 1:15.28 | 1:15.28 | +2.98 | ||
18 | 10 | 534959 | JITLOFF Tim | 1985 | USA | 1:15.29 | 1:15.29 | +2.99 | ||
19 | 25 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | 1:15.51 | 1:15.51 | +3.21 | ||
20 | 52 | 53889 | HIRSCHBUEHL Christian | 1990 | AUT | 1:15.54 | 1:15.54 | +3.24 | ||
21 | 16 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:15.61 | 1:15.61 | +3.31 | ||
22 | 57 | 290095 | BALLERIN Andrea | 1989 | ITA | 1:15.63 | 1:15.63 | +3.33 | ||
23 | 34 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | 1:15.66 | 1:15.66 | +3.36 | ||
24 | 17 | 421328 | SVINDAL Aksel Lund | 1982 | NOR | 1:15.73 | 1:15.73 | +3.43 | ||
25 | 66 | 192506 | MISSILLIER Steve | 1984 | FRA | 1:15.77 | 1:15.77 | +3.47 | ||
26 | 39 | 54031 | LEITINGER Roland | 1991 | AUT | 1:15.81 | 1:15.81 | +3.51 | ||
27 | 28 | 511896 | MURISIER Justin | 1992 | SUI | 1:16.00 | 1:16.00 | +3.70 | ||
28 | 22 | 51159 | NOESIG Christoph | 1985 | AUT | 1:16.26 | 1:16.26 | +3.96 | ||
29 | 31 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:16.45 | 1:16.45 | +4.15 | ||
30 | 29 | 511741 | ZURBRIGGEN Elia | 1990 | SUI | 1:16.57 | 1:16.57 | +4.27 | ||
31 | 40 | 54063 | FELLER Manuel | 1992 | AUT | 1:16.77 | 1:16.77 | +4.47 | ||
32 | 51 | 291318 | TONETTI Riccardo | 1989 | ITA | 1:16.78 | 1:16.78 | +4.48 | ||
33 | 47 | 561244 | KRANJEC Zan | 1992 | SLO | 1:16.80 | 1:16.80 | +4.50 | ||
34 | 26 | 511718 | PLEISCH Manuel | 1990 | SUI | 1:16.81 | 1:16.81 | +4.51 | ||
35 | 36 | 422278 | WINDINGSTAD Rasmus | 1993 | NOR | 1:16.97 | 1:16.97 | +4.67 | ||
36 | 33 | 512182 | MEILLARD Loic | 1996 | SUI | 1:17.10 | 1:17.10 | +4.80 | ||
36 | 27 | 292000 | BLARDONE Massimiliano | 1979 | ITA | 1:17.10 | 1:17.10 | +4.80 | ||
38 | 24 | 180666 | TORSTI Samu | 1991 | FIN | 1:17.12 | 1:17.12 | +4.82 | ||
39 | 50 | 53980 | KRIECHMAYR Vincent | 1991 | AUT | 1:17.14 | 1:17.14 | +4.84 | ||
40 | 30 | 531799 | FORD Tommy | 1989 | USA | 1:17.18 | 1:17.18 | +4.88 | ||
41 | 63 | 6291430 | MAURBERGER Simon | 1995 | ITA | 1:17.20 | 1:17.20 | +4.90 | ||
42 | 32 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:17.32 | 1:17.32 | +5.02 | ||
43 | 67 | 380341 | ULLRICH Max | 1994 | CRO | 1:17.48 | 1:17.48 | +5.18 | ||
44 | 43 | 422073 | NETELAND Bjoernar | 1991 | NOR | 1:17.66 | 1:17.66 | +5.36 | ||
45 | 48 | 103865 | PHILP Trevor | 1992 | CAN | 1:17.76 | 1:17.76 | +5.46 | ||
46 | 59 | 53985 | MATHIS Marcel | 1991 | AUT | 1:17.81 | 1:17.81 | +5.51 | ||
47 | 65 | 194935 | FAVROT Thibaut | 1994 | FRA | 1:17.95 | 1:17.95 | +5.65 | ||
48 | 42 | 6530115 | CHRISTIANSON Kieffer | 1992 | USA | 1:18.00 | 1:18.00 | +5.70 | ||
49 | 44 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 1:18.22 | 1:18.22 | +5.92 | ||
50 | 55 | 194457 | GALEOTTI Greg | 1992 | FRA | 1:18.66 | 1:18.66 | +6.36 | ||
51 | 38 | 481103 | ANDRIENKO Aleksander | 1990 | RUS | 1:18.74 | 1:18.74 | +6.44 | ||
52 | 37 | 103762 | WERRY Tyler | 1991 | CAN | 1:19.42 | 1:19.42 | +7.12 | ||
53 | 49 | 304242 | NARITA Hideyuki | 1993 | JPN | 1:19.99 | 1:19.99 | +7.69 | ||
54 | 72 | 491853 | DEL CAMPO Juan | 1994 | SPA | 1:21.00 | 1:21.00 | +8.70 | ||
55 | 75 | 380290 | SAMSAL Dalibor | 1985 | HUN | 1:21.32 | 1:21.32 | +9.02 | ||
56 | 73 | 680047 | BENIAIDZE Alex | 1991 | GEO | 1:21.67 | 1:21.67 | +9.37 | ||
57 | 45 | 934566 | ROBERTS Hig | 1991 | USA | 1:22.23 | 1:22.23 | +9.93 | ||
58 | 77 | 690694 | KOVBASNYUK Ivan | 1993 | UKR | 1:23.75 | 1:23.75 | +11.45 | ||
59 | 74 | 660021 | DANILOCHKIN Yuri | 1991 | BLR | 1:25.78 | 1:25.78 | +13.48 | ||
60 | 78 | 210040 | TUKHTAEV Kamiljon | 1997 | UZB | 1:28.29 | 1:28.29 | +15.99 | ||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
76 | 710320 | LAIKERT Igor | 1991 | BIH | ||||||
71 | 92720 | POPOV Albert | 1997 | BUL | ||||||
70 | 30149 | SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier | 1980 | ARG | ||||||
69 | 151024 | KOTZMANN Adam | 1993 | CZE | ||||||
68 | 180705 | PIRINEN Eemeli | 1993 | FIN | ||||||
64 | 561217 | KOSI Klemen | 1991 | SLO | ||||||
61 | 501903 | CASSMAN Anton | 1993 | SWE | ||||||
60 | 990081 | CASSE Mattia | 1990 | ITA | ||||||
58 | 511988 | GENOUD Amaury | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
56 | 303097 | ISHII Tomoya | 1989 | JPN | ||||||
54 | 501898 | ROENNGREN Mattias | 1993 | SWE | ||||||
53 | 530758 | COHEE Nick | 1988 | USA | ||||||
46 | 180627 | MALMSTROM Victor | 1991 | FIN | ||||||
41 | 511638 | TUMLER Thomas | 1989 | SUI | ||||||
35 | 202597 | SCHMID Alexander | 1994 | GER | ||||||
20 | 990116 | DE ALIPRANDINI Luca | 1990 | ITA | ||||||
13 | 511852 | CAVIEZEL Gino | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
11 | 180534 | SANDELL Marcus | 1987 | FIN |