Worlds: Janka wins, Ligety's second run earns bronze

The men’s giant slalom of the 2009 World Ski Championships was decided in the first run when the man they call the Iceman, Carlo Janka, put down a run that was a half second better than Benjamin Raich and nearly a second ahead of the rest of the field.

American Ted Ligety’s second run was what made it into a race.

Ligety had finished ninth in the first run as the surface of the much ballyhooed Bellevarde Face race course at Val d’Isere had some spots that caught him off-guard. He was 1.71 seconds off the time of Janka but determined to prove his 2008 World Cup GS title was no fluke.

When Ligety ran Italian Alexander Ploner held a narrow edge over Aksel Svindal. Ligety ripped one. Ignoring minor mistakes, a slipping ski edge, a ski in the air, the blasted to a .79 of a second lead. Since he was 1.71 behind after the first heat it was apparent he was going to need some help from the rest of the field to win.The men’s giant slalom of the 2009 World Ski Championships was decided in the first run when the man they call the Iceman, Carlo Janka, put down a run that was a half second better than Benjamin Raich and nearly a second ahead of the rest of the field.

American Ted Ligety’s second run was what made it into a race.

Ligety had finished ninth in the first run as the surface of the much ballyhooed Bellevarde Face race course at Val d’Isere had some spots that caught him off-guard. He was 1.71 seconds off the time of Janka but determined to prove his 2008 World Cup GS title was no fluke.

When Ligety ran Italian Alexander Ploner held a narrow edge over Aksel Svindal. Ligety ripped one. Ignoring minor mistakes, a slipping ski edge, a ski in the air, and blasted to a .79 of a second lead. Since he was 1.71 behind after the first heat it was apparent he was going to need some help from the rest of the field to win.

Next up was Jean-Baptiste Grange, the last hope for the homestanding French. He charged, with his slalom blocking skills at the ready, and put down a solid run, but could not overcome Ligety.

The American, still breathing heavily, his breath showing in the cold air, took his place on the leader’s roost.

The next competitor, Philipp Schoerghofer couldn’t come close. By the time he finished, Ligety had removed his neon helmet and acknowledged his run had been superb with a slight smile.

Manfred Moelgg could not get ahead of the course, struggled and left Ligety in first. By now the man they call “Shred” had his headband and sunglasses on.

Marcel Hirscher, with a half second lead on Ligety at the start nearly lost the course at the top interval but regained enough to come close, within a tenth, of Ligety.

Didier Cuche, the “King of the Bellevarde” after claiming medals in both the super G and downhill was smooth, but not fast enough.

Massimiliano Blardone, one of the top GS skiers in the world since 2001 got airborne repeatedly as he hopped around gates. He lost his first run lead by the top of the final knoll.

Ligety knew he had a medal and smiled broadly. It was a matter of what material his medal would be made of.

Benjamin Raich, with the weight of Austria on his shoulders and the experience to carry it skied with the precision and strength one might expect of a man with four Olympic and six World Championship medals. Raich took the lead and Ligety walked off the stand to congratulate him.

That left first run leader Carlo Janka, the Swiss iceman. Knowing he had a huge first run cushion, Janka still charged, got way out of line high on the course and quickly changed strategy. He avoided a crash, regained the rhythm and rolled it home for the gold medal.

Ligety was the first man to shake his hand.

The bronze medallist won the second run and skied the way he knew he could.

Janka had won the World Cup GS on the hill back in December and also won a leg of the combined. He said he knew the hill would suit him the first time he saw it. His second run mistake, he said, “was a big one, but on the way down I didn’t realize how big it was. After two or three (more) gates I said I had many left to catch up and just let it go.”

Raich gave Janka all the credit for the win. “He was really strong today,” Raich said. “I had two good runs. For sure there were some mistakes, but not that big and he is more than seven tenths ahead of me, so I can congratulate him.”

For Ligety the second run was all about redemption. He moved through the finish area quickly after the first heat saying only that he would let his skis do his talking in the second.

“The first run I felt bad the whole way down,” he said. “It went from grippy to icy to grippy to soft. You see someone like Janka and he is so centered on his skis and I’m almost never centered on my skis. When you’re in ninth place, one point seven back, you might as well go for broke because fourth doesn’t count here.”

He said he didn’t worry about the little errors and kept the pedal down. “It’s a fight. It never feels good the whole way down. It’s just bumpy and rattlely. You just have to go for it. I did that and I got away with a lot of risks you wouldn’t normally get away with.”

Gate coach Greg Nedell said the team had been waiting for Ligety to explode. “He skied really well here in the December race and then fell. We knew he had it in him to be fast on this hill with that kind of set. We were pretty psyched because if you can put a little gap on (the competition) the guys get nervous. Some of them did.”

Head coach Sasha Rearick agreed, saying there were two sections of the course where Ligety had to ski tactically to negotiate the roughness. “He did that perfectly. The rest he skied clean arcs; agressive skiing down the fall line. … There was a lot of fantastic skiiing. Carlo Janka had an amazing race; two impressive runs by him. He’s a true champion.”

Bode Miller was in much the same boat as Ligety had been. Well out after the first run – he was second further back than Ligety in 18th place – he went after it in the second. With arms wide for balance he got bumped back in his stance about 25 gates in, couldn’t get any pressure on his ski and was unable to clear the next gate.

Tim Jitloff had a good second race going after an even worse first heat than his teammates, got way late coming over the last knoll and nearly came to a dead stop. He fought back into the course gamely and finished 26th.

Fourth starter Jake Zamansky did not complete the first run.

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The SCOOP

Equipment
World Ski Championships
Men’s Giant Slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 13, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Ligety, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Blardone, Dynastar/Lange/Look
6 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
7 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Ploner, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Berthod, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men’s Giant Slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 13, 2009. … The 40th World Ski Championships. … It is the eighth race of ten scheduled for the championships with both slaloms remaining. … It is the 265th World Championship race and the 44th giant slalom.

It is the second career World Championship medal for Carlo Janka. … He was also third at Val d’Isere Feb. 7 and was ninth in the super G Feb. 4. … It is his third win of the season after a World Cup combined win at Wengen and a GS win at Val d’Isere Dec. 13. … It is the 48th World Championship gold medal for Switzerland. … and second of these championships after Didier Cuche’s gold in super G. … Janka is the eighth Swiss to win a World Championship GS. … The first since Sonja Nef and Michael VonGruenigen swept the event in 2001. … He is the third Swiss male to take gold in GS at Worlds after VonGruenigen – who did it twice – and Pirmin Zurbriggen.

It is the eighth World Championship medal for Benjamin Raich (including a team silver) and his fifth silver medal. … It is his second Worlds medal in GS, both silvers. … It is his fifth podium of the season and third in GS. … It is the fourth medal for Austria at these championships. … the first for the men’s team. … It is the 205th Austrian medal at a World Championships. … The 31st in GS.

It is the first World Championship medal for Ted Ligety… though he placed fourth in GS at Are in 2007. … It is his third podium result of the season the others both in GS, one at Beaver Creek Dec. 7 and one at Soelden Oct. 26. … It is the third US medal at this championship, the other two gold medals from Lindsey Vonn. … It is the 52nd World Championship medal for the U.S. … and the 12th in GS.

It is the second placing for this championship for Canadian Robbie Dixon. … It is his fourth best result of the season. … He has never scored a point in a World Cup GS. … It is the third placing in a World Championship for Tim Jitloff, the first since 2007 at Are. … It is his fourth top 30 placing of the season.

---

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	2	511313	JANKA Carlo	1986	SUI	1:08.25	1:10.57	2:18.82	0.00
2	3	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	1:08.73	1:10.80	2:19.53	4.50
3	1	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	1:09.96	1:09.85	2:19.81	6.28
4	21	53831	HIRSCHER Marcel	1989	AUT	1:09.40	1:10.48	2:19.88	6.72
5	7	292000	BLARDONE Massimiliano	1979	ITA	1:09.21	1:11.28	2:20.49	10.59
6	4	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	1:09.38	1:11.13	2:20.51	10.71
7	9	192665	GRANGE Jean-Baptiste	1984	FRA	1:09.90	1:10.67	2:20.57	11.09
8	24	290693	PLONER Alexander	1978	ITA	1:10.24	1:10.36	2:20.60	11.28
9	6	421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	1:10.46	1:10.15	2:20.61	11.35
10	8	510997	BERTHOD Marc	1983	SUI	1:10.55	1:10.21	2:20.76	12.30
11	15	292120	SIMONCELLI Davide	1979	ITA	1:10.59	1:10.27	2:20.86	12.93
12	5	292491	MOELGG Manfred	1982	ITA	1:09.44	1:11.71	2:21.15	14.77
13	25	420148	KARLSEN Truls Ove	1975	NOR	1:10.20	1:11.05	2:21.25	15.40
14	18	51007	SCHOERGHOFER Philipp	1983	AUT	1:09.84	1:11.46	2:21.30	15.72
15	20	191746	DE TESSIERES Gauthier	1981	FRA	1:10.85	1:10.80	2:21.65	17.94
16	19	180534	SANDELL Marcus	1987	FIN	1:11.77	1:09.95	2:21.72	18.38
17	29	180292	LEINO Jukka	1978	FIN	1:11.76	1:10.51	2:22.27	21.87
18	26	560425	VAJDIC Bernard	1980	SLO	1:11.31	1:11.28	2:22.59	23.90
19	33	201702	NEUREUTHER Felix	1984	GER	1:12.11	1:10.55	2:22.66	24.34
20	14	510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	1:10.78	1:11.92	2:22.70	24.60
21	32	102961	DIXON Robbie	1985	CAN	1:12.27	1:10.57	2:22.84	25.48
22	31	150644	KRYZL Krystof	1986	CZE	1:12.60	1:10.29	2:22.89	25.80
23	22	560406	GORZA Ales	1980	SLO	1:11.35	1:11.67	2:23.02	26.62
24	35	501026	RAINER Niklas	1983	SWE	1:12.64	1:10.85	2:23.49	29.60
25	34	30149	SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier	1980	ARG	1:12.48	1:11.82	2:24.30	34.74
26	27	534959	JITLOFF Tim	1985	USA	1:12.09	1:12.46	2:24.55	36.32
27	40	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	1:13.53	1:11.21	2:24.74	37.53
28	48	481148	MAITAKOV Sergei	1990	RUS	1:12.91	1:13.01	2:25.92	45.01
29	75	301709	YUASA Naoki	1983	JPN	1:13.36	1:13.43	2:26.79	50.52
Did not qualify for 2nd run
30	12	50742	REICHELT Hannes	1980	AUT	1:13.58		1:13.58
31	36	40255	BRAUER Jono	1981	AUS	1:13.67		1:13.67
32	49	102435	JANYK Michael	1982	CAN	1:13.76		1:13.76
33	50	491129	TERRA Ferran	1987	SPA	1:13.88		1:13.88
34	39	481006	ZUEV Stepan	1988	RUS	1:14.08		1:14.08
35	47	220083	BAXTER Noel	1981	GBR	1:14.55		1:14.55
36	45	910001	ROUX Christophe	1983	MDA	1:14.83		1:14.83
37	42	380298	SIROKI Tin	1987	CRO	1:14.87		1:14.87
38	52	700724	BABUSIAK Jaroslav	1984	SVK	1:14.91		1:14.91
39	66	90132	MANOLOV Kiril	1987	BUL	1:15.05		1:15.05
40	46	380290	SAMSAL Dalibor	1985	CRO	1:15.19		1:15.19
41	53	220689	RYDING David	1986	GBR	1:15.41		1:15.41
42	69	92534	CHONGAROV Nikola	1989	BUL	1:15.60		1:15.60
43	58	90047	GEORGIEV Stefan	1977	BUL	1:15.63		1:15.63
44	17	102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	1:15.83		1:15.83
45	72	40304	STEVENS Bryce	1984	AUS	1:15.96		1:15.96
46	55	491151	DE LA CUESTA Paul	1988	SPA	1:15.97		1:15.97
46	54	410270	CAFE Tim	1987	NZE	1:15.97		1:15.97
48	57	490958	CAPDEVILA Guillem	1985	SPA	1:16.10		1:16.10
49	37	220575	NOBLE Andrew	1984	GBR	1:18.09		1:18.09
50	68	400163	ROOIJ VAN Joery	1986	NED	1:18.25		1:18.25
51	70	40332	STEVENS Hugh	1986	AUS	1:19.07		1:19.07
52	44	110187	MANDRU Jorge	1986	CHI	1:19.90		1:19.90
53	51	380296	MARINELLI Danko	1987	CRO	1:29.32		1:29.32
Did not qualify for final race
54	28	80063	LONGHI Jhonatan	1988	BRA	1:21.13	1:19.88	2:41.01
55	36	700808	STANCEL Simon	1988	SVK	1:21.42	1:19.78	2:41.20
56	42	60179	CORNETTE Niels	1991	BEL	1:21.64	1:20.63	2:42.27
57	9	480610	KASAKOV Ivan	1982	RUS	1:22.07	1:20.23	2:42.30
58	44	680045	VAKHTANGISHVILI Kote	1991	GEO	1:21.40	1:21.21	2:42.61
59	25	750063	VITANOV Aleksandar	1985	MKD	1:21.19	1:22.43	2:43.62
60	37	280020	RENZHIN Mikail	1978	ISR	1:21.97	1:21.85	2:43.82
61	13	90131	GEORGIEV Georgi	1987	BUL	1:23.11	1:20.99	2:44.10
62	52	170136	VIAL Christian	1984	DAN	1:22.64	1:22.21	2:44.85
63	53	670029	PIMENOV Taras	1984	KAZ	1:22.94	1:21.96	2:44.90
64	41	750088	RISTEVSKI Antonio	1989	MKD	1:22.78	1:22.63	2:45.41
65	57	750089	DEHARI Dardan	1990	MKD	1:24.20	1:23.05	2:47.25
66	48	550026	LANSMANIS Einars	1988	LAT	1:22.39	1:26.11	2:48.50
67	55	310388	KOSIC Bojan	1990	MNE	1:24.44	1:24.09	2:48.53
68	54	230116	TRIPODAKIS Pavlos	1982	GRE	1:24.20	1:24.40	2:48.60
69	43	230165	TSIMIKALIS Stephanos	1985	GRE	1:24.87	1:24.06	2:48.93
70	69	550022	RODE Roberts	1987	LAT	1:25.47	1:23.51	2:48.98
71	76	690086	FESHCHUK Rostyslav	1990	UKR	1:25.61	1:23.48	2:49.09
72	51	240111	BENE Marton	1986	HUN	1:25.10	1:25.66	2:50.76
73	70	260079	SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Hossein	1985	IRA	1:26.24	1:25.00	2:51.24
74	68	740018	SARKAKHYAN Abraham	1986	ARM	1:26.73	1:25.03	2:51.76
75	92	570015	SCOTT Peter	1990	RSA	1:26.94	1:25.88	2:52.82
76	78	270027	BYRNE Peter	1983	IRE	1:29.65	1:28.86	2:58.51
77	66	260084	TIR Omid	1984	IRA	1:32.16	1:26.42	2:58.58
78	83	860004	NOTZ Cedric	1974	AZE	1:30.90	1:27.99	2:58.89
79	86	170135	JENSEN Nichlas Bojer	1991	DAN	1:31.34	1:28.92	3:00.26
80	93	450017	GIORDANI Gian Luca	1989	RSM	1:31.03	1:29.80	3:00.83
81	90	740028	MANUKYAN Yura	1991	ARM	1:36.99	1:35.48	3:12.47
82	98	620050	NAMGIAL Jamyang	1985	IND	1:37.90	1:36.86	3:14.76
83	97	890003	SHYAM Kumar-Dhakal	1981	NEP	1:38.77	1:36.72	3:15.49
84	100	620030	KUMAR Santosh	1979	IND	1:40.75	1:37.27	3:18.02
85	102	360035	TRIERWEILER Ben	1988	LUX	1:42.34	1:39.80	3:22.14
86	103	780003	ENDRIUKAITIS Tomas	1972	LTU	1:42.79	1:40.14	3:22.93
87	99	941000	NKRUMAH-ACHEAMPONG Kwame	1974	GHA	1:41.29	1:42.27	3:23.56
88	104	890004	SUBASH Khatri	1987	NEP	1:46.88	1:41.93	3:28.81
89	105	720050	BAYARZUL Chagnaa	1971	MGL	2:13.54	2:06.57	4:20.11
Did not start 1st run
	71	700830	ZAMPA Adam	1990	SVK
Did not finish 2nd run
	16	532431	MILLER Bode	1977	USA
Did not finish 1st run
	74	250267	SIGURGEIRSSON Stefan Jon	1989	ISL
	73	110178	MARTINIC Jorge	1986	CHI
	67	40363	GEIGER Christian	1988	AUS
	65	460040	NAN Ioan-Gabriel	1980	ROU
	64	400131	QUARTEL DE Alwin	1983	NED
	63	30115	TORRES Agustin	1978	ARG
	62	680041	ABRAMASHVILI Iason	1988	GEO
	61	491110	JIMENEZ Diego	1987	SPA
	60	60088	VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen	1979	BEL
	59	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS
	56	370022	JENOT Olivier	1988	MON
	43	501101	BYGGMARK Jens	1985	SWE
	41	301312	SASAKI Akira	1981	JPN
	38	250127	BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin	1980	ISL
	30	533397	ZAMANSKY Jake	1981	USA
	28	501017	MYHRER Andre	1983	SWE
	23	101895	ROY Jean-Philippe	1979	CAN
	13	191750	FANARA Thomas	1981	FRA
	11	191423	RICHARD Cyprien	1979	FRA
	10	421483	JANSRUD Kjetil	1985	NOR
Disqualified 2nd run in qualification race
	45	680042	TEDIASHVILI Vakhtang	1989	GEO
Disqualified 1st run in qualification race
	95	340040	MEHANNA Jamil	1978	LIB
	89	958400	TRAVERS Dow	1987	CAY
	88	170114	STENE Nils-Henrik	1988	DAN
	80	770011	TRELEVSKI Dmitry	1983	KGZ
	77	770012	BORISOV Ivan	1979	KGZ
	64	690036	VAKHNENKO Igor	1981	UKR
	58	260007	SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Alidad	1972	IRA
	40	320293	KYUNG Sung-Hyun	1990	KOR
	24	430429	BYDLINSKI Maciej	1988	POL
	20	250234	GUDMUNDSSON Gisli Rafn	1986	ISL
Did not start 2nd run in qualification race
	84	540001	VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus	1959	MEX
	82	340033	SALAMEH Georges	1976	LIB
	18	250208	THORVALDSSON Arni	1984	ISL
Did not start 1st run in qualification race
	101	660015	MAZALEUSKI Siarhei	1992	BLR
	96	958401	TRAVERS Dillon	1991	CAY
	81	240128	BUJTAS Csaba	1992	HUN
Did not finish 2nd run in qualification race
	94	790005	AZZIMANI Samir	1977	MAR
	87	450015	CARDELLI Marino	1987	RSM
	79	160074	PAPAMICHALOPOULOS Christopher	1988	CYP
	74	690067	DOLGYY Sergiy	1984	UKR
	73	240108	SZABO Bence	1986	HUN
	67	520063	SARE Hamit	1982	TUR
	62	230189	BONOU Nikos	1986	GRE
	59	260097	SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Porya	1987	IRA
	49	710311	RUDIC Marko	1990	BIH
	47	230192	TSAKNAKIS Alexandros	1986	GRE
	38	60159	VAN BUYNDER Frederik	1988	BEL
	34	60160	ALAERTS Kai	1989	BEL
	33	30229	DENEGRI Segundo	1989	ARG
	32	460060	BARBU Alexandru	1987	ROU
	14	110207	ANGUITA Rafael	1988	CHI
	6	410198	HOWDEN Angus	1981	NZE
Did not finish 1st run in qualification race
	91	270031	BYRNE Brian E.	1987	IRE
	85	770006	BORISOV Igor	1965	KGZ
	75	770007	TRELEVSKI Alexander	1982	KGZ
	72	170123	JAEGERSEN Alex	1991	DAN
	71	740022	NERSISYAN Arsen	1987	ARM
	65	240122	SZEPESI Bertold	1990	HUN
	63	550044	MARKSS Svens	1991	LAT
	61	240132	FARKAS Norbert	1992	HUN
	60	670037	ZAKURDAEV Igor	1987	KAZ
	56	710269	BADURA Slaven	1986	BIH
	50	680047	BENIANIDZE Alex	1991	GEO