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Hirscher crowned king of Alpine Combined in Vail
The 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship presented by Audi marched on today with the fifth medal event on the schedule. Today, the men enjoyed sunny skies and ideal conditions for the Alpine Combined, which included the Birds of Prey downhill run together with a slalom.
In the end, Marcel Hirscher’s strong slalom skills were too much for anyone to overcome as he took home his second-ever World Championship gold medal and his first-ever in the Alpine Combined.
Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud finished in second place thanks to his strong downhill run. After the downhill portion, Jansrud led the field with a time of 1:43:01. His impressive time saved the day for him in the slalom as his more than three-second lead evaporated at each interval. Jansrud was still in the green at the final interval, but when he crossed the finish line he saw red, finishing 0.19 seconds behind Hirscher.
American Ted Ligety finished in third place on the strength of his slalom run, giving the Americans their third medal at these home World Championships. It was Ligety’s sixth-ever World Championship medal and his second in the Alpine Combined, which he won in 2013 in Schladming. Hirscher’s teammate Romed Baumann just barely missed the podium, ending one spot lower than he did in Schladming, in fourth place.
“Any medal is a good medal,” said Ligety after the race “I’m really surprised to be on the podium after my downhill run. I just went out and skied with reckless abandon in the slalom. It’s a pretty bizarre race that I made podium after finishing 29th in the downhill.”
Hirscher’s victory is even more remarkable considering he barely eked into the Top-30, finishing in 30th place in the downhill over three seconds off the pace. The 30th place secured Hirscher the first starting place on the slalom run, which proved to be more than beneficial as the sunny skies slowly softened the slope. Only Ligety came close to matching Hirscher’s amazing slalom run time, and he was still 0.43 seconds slower.
“It is unbelievable two days ago I was debating if it made sense to start in the Super combined since my downhill training times weren’t too fast, but it seems I made a good decision. In the second run I was definitely lucky to be the first to go down,” Hirscher said. “I don’t think anyone expected me to win today. I entered this championship with the goal of winning one medal of any color so anything that happens from here on out is a big bonus.”
The silver is Jansrud’s first-ever World Championship medal and ends a frustrating run for him here in Vail that saw him barely miss the podium in the Super-G (fourth place) and finish well off the mark with an injured shouder in the downhill despite being an early favorite.
“It was a special day for me considering coming into the speed races and not getting anything in return,” Jansrud said. “I don’t know where that slalom run came from, I’m not training any slalom these days, I knew I had a big lead going into the slalom and I knew there was a slim chance of getting a medal if I had a really good run.”
It wasn’t until Baumann came down as one of the last-five skiers that the top-three was challenged. Until Baumann, it was all the early racers sitting in the lead. Baumann knocked Alexis Pinturault off the podium and then Jansrud, skiing as the last man down the hill, repaid the favor to Baumann. Switzerland’s Carlo Janka finished in sixth place.
"I had a good slalom run and when I crossed the finish line, I thought 'yeah, this could be good enough,' but then Kjetil came down and had other ideas so I missed the medal," said Baumann.
There was a scary moment in the downhill race today when Ondrej Bank (CZE) had a nasty crash on the final jump before the finish line. He was taken off by medics and it is reported that he suffered a facial cut and concussion and has been taken in for further medical evaluation.
In the end, Marcel Hirscher’s strong slalom skills were too much for anyone to overcome as he took home his second-ever World Championship gold medal and his first-ever in the Alpine Combined.
Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud finished in second place thanks to his strong downhill run. After the downhill portion, Jansrud led the field with a time of 1:43:01. His impressive time saved the day for him in the slalom as his more than three-second lead evaporated at each interval. Jansrud was still in the green at the final interval, but when he crossed the finish line he saw red, finishing 0.19 seconds behind Hirscher.
American Ted Ligety finished in third place on the strength of his slalom run, giving the Americans their third medal at these home World Championships. It was Ligety’s sixth-ever World Championship medal and his second in the Alpine Combined, which he won in 2013 in Schladming. Hirscher’s teammate Romed Baumann just barely missed the podium, ending one spot lower than he did in Schladming, in fourth place.
“Any medal is a good medal,” said Ligety after the race “I’m really surprised to be on the podium after my downhill run. I just went out and skied with reckless abandon in the slalom. It’s a pretty bizarre race that I made podium after finishing 29th in the downhill.”
Hirscher’s victory is even more remarkable considering he barely eked into the Top-30, finishing in 30th place in the downhill over three seconds off the pace. The 30th place secured Hirscher the first starting place on the slalom run, which proved to be more than beneficial as the sunny skies slowly softened the slope. Only Ligety came close to matching Hirscher’s amazing slalom run time, and he was still 0.43 seconds slower.
“It is unbelievable two days ago I was debating if it made sense to start in the Super combined since my downhill training times weren’t too fast, but it seems I made a good decision. In the second run I was definitely lucky to be the first to go down,” Hirscher said. “I don’t think anyone expected me to win today. I entered this championship with the goal of winning one medal of any color so anything that happens from here on out is a big bonus.”
The silver is Jansrud’s first-ever World Championship medal and ends a frustrating run for him here in Vail that saw him barely miss the podium in the Super-G (fourth place) and finish well off the mark with an injured shouder in the downhill despite being an early favorite.
“It was a special day for me considering coming into the speed races and not getting anything in return,” Jansrud said. “I don’t know where that slalom run came from, I’m not training any slalom these days, I knew I had a big lead going into the slalom and I knew there was a slim chance of getting a medal if I had a really good run.”
It wasn’t until Baumann came down as one of the last-five skiers that the top-three was challenged. Until Baumann, it was all the early racers sitting in the lead. Baumann knocked Alexis Pinturault off the podium and then Jansrud, skiing as the last man down the hill, repaid the favor to Baumann. Switzerland’s Carlo Janka finished in sixth place.
"I had a good slalom run and when I crossed the finish line, I thought 'yeah, this could be good enough,' but then Kjetil came down and had other ideas so I missed the medal," said Baumann.
There was a scary moment in the downhill race today when Ondrej Bank (CZE) had a nasty crash on the final jump before the finish line. He was taken off by medics and it is reported that he suffered a facial cut and concussion and has been taken in for further medical evaluation.
Source: fis-ski.com
