U.S. Ski and Snowboard Teams off to a Sizzling Start

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08 December 2014

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine–Park City, Utah, Dec. 8, 2014—The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Teams picked up this past weekend where they left off last season: with multiple medalists on the podium.

Lindsey Vonn won her 60th Audi FIS Ski World Cup, capping a first-ever U.S. Ski Team podium sweep, in a downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta. Vonn pulled out the win by almost a half second, bumping teammate Stacey Cook into second place. Julia Mancuso rounded out the podium in third. It was the best finish in two seasons for all three athletes. Laurenne Ross finished sixth, putting four U.S. women in the top 10.

Beaver Creek race officials say the run that Ted Ligety laid down on his second run of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup held at Beaver Creek “will go down in history.” Ligety, was racing just two weeks after surgery on his fractured left wrist. He came back from fourth place on the first run to win the giant slalom at Beaver Creek for the fifth straight year.

It was Ligety's 23rd giant slalom win, matching Swiss Michael Von Gruenigen, one of his childhood heroes, for second among all-time GS wins (Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden remains the leader, with 46 victories).

A day earlier, Steve Nyman grabbed third in the Birds of Prey downhill.

Just over Vail Pass, American riders put on an impressive early season showing at the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix snowboarding event held at Copper Mountain, clinching five of the six podium spots. Veteran Kelly Clark led an American sweep on the women's side, with Taylor Gold taking home top honors for the men.

Clark's first run proved to be enough to win the contest, but she continued to push herself and the sport adding an inverted frontside 720 to a run that already included a frontside 1080, a trick few other women have landed.

Arielle Gold rose to the occasion, putting down a both a frontside and Cab 900 in her run. Hannah Teter, who struggled to land on her feet in runs one and two, perfectly executed a backside 900 on her last hit to complete the American podium sweep.

The event marked the first season that FIS and the Grand Prix tour have implemented a three-run final and it proved to be the deciding factor for the opening men's event. Gold's third run, complete with a frontside 1260, ultimately proved to be unbeatable.