Having skiing great Maier add another mark in his record books with an astounding 54th World Cup victory was something that the U.S. Ski Team's Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) says he was happy to be able to witness.
"Hermann Meier was impressive. To see him on the top of the podium and crushing second place was pretty cool. It's good to see the legend is still alive," Sullivan said.
Sullivan dialed in the fastest run for U.S. athletes to finish with a personal super G best, tying for fifth.
"I skied pretty well - not flawlessly, but I had the intensity. I was a little disappointed with yesterday's race, so I wanted to at least leave here with something, so I charged it and it worked out pretty good," Sullivan said.
Kucera the home town hero
Calgary's John Kucera made history today, becoming the first Canadian male to be on the podium more than once at a FIS Alpine World Cup race on home snow.
Kucera finished second, sending the large crowd in attendance at the Lake Louise Ski Area into frenzy after crossing the finish line in a time of 1:30.43.
“To come back home and get back on the podium again, it’s a really good feeling,” said Kucera, the 2006 Bombardier Lake Louise Super G champion. “I really had to charge it. Today I felt good. I wasn’t sure when I crossed the line what my time was going to be but felt really good when I saw the board.”
This is the first World Cup podium of the season for the Canadian team following last season’s 10 podium performance. Kucera said team success was very important to each of them.
“It’s always a great feeling to make it on the podium, whoever it is. We train as a group and we are all very competitive as a group. So when you see one of your teammates on the podium, you know that anyone could be up there on any given day, so it just keeps us hanging in there. We know we had good and solid preparation,” said Kucera, now with three career podiums on the World Cup.
It was also a great day for Erik Guay (Mont-Tremblant, QC) who finished seventh in a time of 1:30.83.
“I am satisfied, I took a step in the right direction today. There are still sections where I’m slow and I don’t quite know why yet,” Guay said.
“I’m happy for John. He’s a teammate and when it goes good for him, it goes good for the team and it’s good for everybody,” he said. “It’s a great day for the team. We ended up 2nd, 7th, 19th so that’s a pretty good result.”
Summer training pays off for Sullivan
According to U.S. Ski Team Men's Alpine Head Coach Sasha Rearick, Sullivan's new benchmark comes on the heels of a summer of pushing his technique to new levels.
"Sullivan did a lot of giant slalom this summer - probably four times the amount he normally does - which has helped him to make better transitions in his turns and that work showed today," Rearick said. "Sully did a great job. He had awesome skiing and great execution from top to bottom."
"I think the GS training this summer helped me get back to basics with my technique," Sullivan said. "I also have some new Nordica super G skis that are pretty awesome, so with both of those factors I was able to sit in the start gate and be confident that I could compete with the best guys. That's a feeling that had been lacking in my super G until now."
Reigning World Cup overall champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) was nearly halfway through his run when he lost balance and ended up losing a ski before going out.
Following his result in the super G, Sullivan now sits 20th in the overall World Cup standings. Daniel Albrecht of Switzerland leads.
Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) followed Sullivan for U.S. results in 34th. Erik Fisher (Middleton, ID), back for his first race since injuring himself at last season's World Cup in Lake Louise, was 49th.
"It was Fisher's first race back since his injury, and he was charging. It was nice to see a kid come back from an injury and go at it like that. He's skiing well," Rearick said.
The World Cup men now head south for the Audi Birds of Prey races in Beaver Creek, Colo. Dec. 2-7.
"We have two training runs in Beaver Creek prior to the downhill, so there's not a lot of time to do anything," Rearick said. "The Team is excited to get back to Beaver Creek. We always love it there and it's great to be at home."
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP
Lake Louise, ALB - Nov. 30, 2008
Men's Super G
1. Hermann Maier, Austria, 1:29.84
2. John Kucera, Canada, 1:30.43
3. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 1:30.52
4. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:30.63
5. Marco Sullivan, Squaw Valley, CA, 1:30.71
