Masterful Ligety rallies to capture World Cup giant slalom win

BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. The way he glided in between sections of the steep course appeared so elegant.

Even when he's skiing on edge in a giant slalom race, pushing to the brink of his ability — as he insisted he was doing Tuesday — it hardly seemed that way.

No wonder some of his rivals have taken to calling him, "Mr. GS."

Ligety turned in a blazing second run in frigid conditions to capture a World Cup giant slalom race on a demanding Birds of Prey course. The three-time overall GS champion flew down the hill in a combined time of 2 minutes, 40.01 seconds to hold off Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.69 seconds. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was third.

"I tried to do my best. I had no chance," Hirscher said. "Ted was unbreakable."

It was Hirscher who lit a fire under Ligety.

On Sunday, Hirscher knocked off Ligety in a giant slalom race on this course, finding superior speed where many others, including Ligety, couldn't.

So, Ligety went to the video and studied Hirscher's amazing run from the weekend and used it against him.

"I'm glad to come down and get some redemption," Ligety said. "(Hirscher) crushed me by quite a bit and a lot of other guys Sunday."

This time, it was Ligety's turn. He entered the final run trailing France's Alexis Pinturault by 0.14 seconds. But Ligety easily made up the time to win his 10th World Cup race. Pinturault made an early mistake and never recovered, settling for fourth.

"I was pushing super hard," Ligety said. "If I did that run several times, I don't know if I'd make it to the finish line with a high percentage."

At 27, Ligety is the undisputed king of the GS. But he has a couple of youngsters hot on his heels in Hirscher (22 years old) and Pinturault (20). They keep getting better with age, especially Pinturault, who Ligety said is bound to break through for his first win very soon, possibly even this season.

"It's just a matter of time," Ligety said. "That's definitely a good motivator for me, knowing there's somebody 7 years younger than me that probably has more raw speed than I do. That's something that's going to make me push hard in the future. I'm hoping (Pinturault) doesn't get that mental ability and race speed too soon."

Hirscher is already there.

His performance this week is evidence of that. Second after the first run, Hirscher may have even charged toward another win Tuesday, but he banged his hand on a gate and wasn't the same in his final trip through the course.

"I was a bit not that aggressive like in the first run," Hirscher said. "I'm pretty happy with my second place. For me, it's perfect to be here.

"It's an amazing feeling because (Ligety) is Mr. GS. Hopefully it's going on the whole season."

Just then, Jansrud playfully interrupted as the three sat at a table for a post-race news conference.

Something was lost in translation.

"You hope (Ligety) wins all races the whole season?" Jansrud asked.

Wide-eyed, Hirscher quickly amended his statement.

"Not that," he said. "Hopefully, I can beat him."

Maybe next season the field will have an even better chance to close the gap on Ligety. That's when the new rules over the shape of the GS skis take effect. Ligety has been frustrated with the International Ski Federation's decision to alter the hourglass shape.

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