Avon, CO – First run leader Ted Ligety couldn’t quite hold on, finishing second in the Audi Birds of Prey giant slalom Sunday at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado.
With a 0.21-second lead over Austrian Marcel Hirscher, Ligety, of Park City, Utah, went back and forth in and out of the lead on his second run before falling .16 to the Austrian. Ligety, who held onto his Audi FIS World Cup lead, was the defending champion and scored his fourth podium result at Beaver Creek. In fact, he has never finished lower than fourth in the Birds of Prey giant slalom since 2006.
“Second place is obviously good, but I wanted to win more than anything. I feel like I had room to improve after my first run, I had more speed. I’ve got my family and friends here from Park City so it’s even more motivation to put up some good results,” said Ligety. “It’s easy to make mistakes on this hill. There were certain parts where I skied well and others where I was all over the place. I knew exactly where I lost it. I had a little bobble on the bottom that lost me some time. I was a little soft in my turn instead of being completely confident.”
Oregon’s Tommy Ford was the only other American finisher in 22nd place. His U.S. teammate Thomas Biesemeyer failed to finish the first run, while Bode Miller, Tim Jitloff and Charles Christianson all failed to qualify for a second run.
“I didn’t change too much from my first run to my second. I feel like I skied well the first run and that helped me ski well in the second run. I’m just working on keeping my speed up, having a clean run each time and racking up some World Cup points,” said Ford.
Jean-Philippe Roy, a 33-year-old from Ste.-Favie, Quebec, finished 21st and was the only Canadian to complete two runs on Sunday. Robbie Dixon, of Whistler, British Columbia, failed to qualify for the second run while teammate Dustin Cook, of Lac-Sainte-Marie, Quebec, did not finish his first run.
The men are back on the same hill for a rescheduled World Cup GS on Tuesday.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Birds of Prey – Beaver Creek, Colo. – Dec. 4, 2011
Men’s Giant Slalom
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 8 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 1:18.74 | 1:19.71 | 2:38.45 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 2 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:18.53 | 1:20.08 | 2:38.61 | 0.88 |
| 3 | 24 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 1:19.12 | 1:19.95 | 2:39.07 | 3.40 |
| 4 | 7 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:19.24 | 1:20.33 | 2:39.57 | 6.15 |
| 5 | 23 | SANDELL Marcus | 1987 | FIN | 1:19.83 | 1:19.93 | 2:39.76 | 7.19 |
| 6 | 3 | RICHARD Cyprien | 1979 | FRA | 1:19.47 | 1:20.30 | 2:39.77 | 7.25 |
| 7 | 5 | SCHOERGHOFER Philipp | 1983 | AUT | 1:19.48 | 1:20.33 | 2:39.81 | 7.47 |
| 8 | 4 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:19.79 | 1:20.22 | 2:40.01 | 8.57 |
| 9 | 13 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 1:19.58 | 1:20.46 | 2:40.04 | 8.73 |
| 9 | 6 | SVINDAL Aksel Lund | 1982 | NOR | 1:19.72 | 1:20.32 | 2:40.04 | 8.73 |