Feb 8

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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS EDITION // DAY 7

TODAY Gates open, 8 a.m., followed by live pre-show, Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek.

Men’s alpine combined, 10 a.m., Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek.

Women’s alpine combined downhill training, noon, Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek.

Medals Ceremony, 6:30 p.m., Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail.

Craig Wayne Boyd free concert, following Medals Ceremony, Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail.

TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

From left, Travis Ganong (silver), Patrick Kueng (gold) and Beat Feuz (bronze) salute the crowd after accepting their respective medals for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill at Vail’s Championships Plaza on Saturday.

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Switzerland’s Kueng is king

Patrick Kueng wins World Championships men’s downhill with American Travis Ganong taking silver. A22-34

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Switzerland’s Patrick Kueng keeps a tight line as he flies through the air after a gate during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill Saturday in Beaver Creek. Kueng won the gold medal with Travis Ganong winning silver and Switzerland’s Beat Feuz finishing third.

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Vol. XXXIV, Issue 237

B12 B1 A21 A35 A20

A22 | Sunday, February 8, 2015 | The Vail Daily

20 15

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Youth is served in Saturday’s downhill Switzerland’s Kueng wins; Ganong second

By Chris Freud cfreud@vaildaily.com

BEAVER CREEK — Experience at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill at Beaver Creek was apparently an overrated commodity.

Switzerland’s Patrick Kueng snagged gold, followed by American Travis Ganong in second and Swiss skier Beat Feuz with the bronze.

All are first-time medalists at the Championships.

Kueng finished in 1 minute, 43.18 seconds with Ganong 24-hundredths of a second in tow.

Feuz was just 31-hundredths behind his teammate.

For the Swiss, Saturday’s medals were sweet vindication for Austria’s early domination of the Championships in their perpetual struggle with their arch alpine rivals. Austria did not have a racer in the top 10 with Matthias Mayer in 12th being their highest finisher.

For the Americans, who had three in the top 10 with Steven Nyman fourth and Andrew Weibrecht tied for ninth, Saturday was a huge bounce back from Friday’s disappointment of being blanked from the podium in women’s downhill.

TOP: Patrick Kueng, of Switzerland, catches big air off of the Redtail Jump during the men’s downhill of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Saturday at Beaver Creek.

Kueng finished in first with a time of 1 minute, 43.18 seconds.

JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

BOTTOM LEFT: Switzerland’s Beat Feuz points to the bleachers after crossing the finish of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill at Beaver Creek on Saturday. Feuz captured the bronze medal.

TOWNSEND BESSENT

ALMOST A NO-SHOW Kueng almost didn’t compete on Saturday.

Nations only get four racers for each event at Worlds, and Kueng had to win an intrasquad race during the men’s downhill training sessions earlier this week to earn his spot. Kueng, however, has a connection with the Birds of Prey racecourse.

His first World Cup victory — one of only two — came here in super-G on Dec. 7, 2013. While he validated that win with a triumph in the Wengen downhill — it’s no small feat for a Swiss skier to win that iconic race on home snow, a lack of results recently left him scrambling for a berth.

Kueng had an abysmal return to Beaver Creek during the tour’s regular stop here in December, but he had a feeling about Saturday’s race.

“Actually, I have a good feeling in December,” Kueng said. “ ... I have a good relationship with the Birds of Prey. I was so fast in training in December. I crashed in downhill and super-G was also bad. Now, I come back and I’m world champion. It’s a really tough downhill. I love this mountain. I’m lucky to sit here.”

Perhaps the most intriguing part of his run was that Kueng appeared to be in big trouble on the course’s Talon Turn with the telltale sign of snow spraying from his skis. But he apparently had

TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM

BOTTOM RIGHT: Travis Ganong leans through the air into his turn as he speeds down the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill on Saturday at Beaver Creek. Ganong took silver in the race.

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

the right line. By Pumphouse, the second interval, Kueng was 0.37 seconds up and won by 0.24, a convincing margin.

SLEEP BETTER, TRAVIS The Americans were a bit under the gun when it came to the expectation game as hosts, and

Ganong was feeling the heat.

“There is so much pressure here in front of the hometown crowd with all my friends and family,” Ganong said. “This is the biggest venue in ski racing. I woke up this morning and I had so much pressure. I couldn’t really sleep much last night. But I woke up and said,

‘OK, I’ve skied my whole life, I’ve trained so hard the last couple of years, I love to ski, let’s just go out and have some fun.’”

He did have some fun, and earned a good night’s rest.

Ironically, Ganong nailed the Talon Turn and was 13-hundredths ahead of Kueng at Pumphouse.

With the crowd roaring with hope, Ganong kept flying, but he did lose some time on the lower half of the course. When he crossed the finish line and saw the No. 2 by his name on the board, he fell down and clapped with his ski poles.

MEN’S DOWNHILL, A31

The Vail Daily

20 15

| Sunday, February 8, 2015 | A23

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Stellar day for the U.S. in men’s downhill Big silver for Ganong; Nyman hundredths away from medal

By Shauna Farnell Special to the Daily

BEAVER CREEK — Travis Ganong put down the run of his life on Saturday during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships downhill race, and in spite of the tremendous pressure on U.S. racers to perform at home, he managed to pull it off.

The 26-year-old Squaw Valley, California, native shook off his nerves and a sleepless night to wake up and recall his passion for skiing. He charged down the Birds of Prey course, which was sunny in spots and cloudy in others, to finish 0.24 seconds behind Swiss gold-medalist Patrick Kueng and collect the silver medal, his first piece of major hardware.

“I woke up this morning and I had so much pressure,” Ganong said. “I couldn’t really sleep much last night. But I woke up and said, ‘OK, I’ve skied my whole life. I’ve trained so hard the last couple of years. I love to ski. Let’s just go out and have some fun.’ All day long I was super relaxed and just having a good time.”

It’s no surprise that Ganong nabbed the silver medal. The downhill specialist has been landing top 10s on the World Cup since 2012 and finished fifth in the Sochi, Russia, Olympic downhill last year and then fifth on the Birds of Prey course in December.

He went on to nail his first World Cup victory in Santa Caterina, Italy, just before the new year.

“This is the best moment of my career, for sure,” Ganong said after Saturday’s race. “I’ve been dreaming of this race for a couple of years now, ever since I knew World Champs would be on home soil. It’s just unreal to come here and perform like this.”

ADVICE FROM MR. RAHLVES Retired racer and fellow Tahoe native Daron Rahlves, who won the Beaver Creek World Cup downhill race in 2003 and 2005 and holds the fastest time ever on the Birds of Prey downhill course, gave Ganong some key tips before the race as they rode the lift and did the inspection together.

“We watched a video from when he won in 2003. He showed me where to cut off the line, look for extra little time and get into your tuck. He’s been a great mentor,” Ganong said. “What Daron always teaches me is to look for aerodynamics in specific places so you can take the turn deep to get into that aerodynamic position.”

Ganong said he was also

JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Travis Ganong leaves the lip of the Redtail Jump during the men’s downhill at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Saturday in Beaver Creek. Ganong was the second-fastest racer of the day with a time of 1 minute, 43.42 seconds. inspired before he entered the start house when he heard that U.S. teammate Steven Nyman was sitting in a close second place.

“He radioed up and said the track is in perfect condition, just send it. That’s what I did,” Ganong said. “I was like, ‘OK, if he’s fast, I can be fast.’”

Nyman ended up in fourth place, 0.34 seconds off the win and a heartbreaking 0.03 seconds off of the podium.

When asked if he couldn’t help reviewing all of the places on course where he could have made up those hundredths of a second, Nyman said, “Yeah, I’m like, did I reach for the line?”

Nyman said he did make one clear mistake in his run coming into The Brink, where he “went a little too straight and was low and had to jam.”

The veteran from Utah, who will be 33 in a few days, was nonetheless happy for his teammate and in spite of not training slalom for years will attempt the alpine combined race today.

“Congrats to Travis,” Nyman said. “I mean, obviously I’m pissed, but he laid it down. I’m

AMERICANS, A26

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

America’s Steven Nyman catches air as he flies past a gate in the middle section of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill on Saturday at Beaver Creek. Nyman was the second- fastest American, finishing the day in fourth place.

A24 | Sunday, February 8, 2015 | The Vail Daily

20 15

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

A primer for today’s men’s alpine combined 295’ | 90m 1,857’ | 566m 16% | 9.1° 24% | 13.4°

THE NUMBERS

Men’s Weather Downhill Start

The Brink

Lift

Start Elevation: 11,155’ | 3,400 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 2,201’ | 671m Distance: 5,494’ | 1,675m Avg. Slope: 35% | 19.3° Max. Slope: 63% | 32.3°

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

es s

Start Elevation: 10,945’ | 3,337 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 1,991’ | 607m Distance: 6,163’ | 1,879m Avg. Slope: 35% | 19.3° Max. Slope: 68% | 34.0°

Men’s GIANT SLALOM Start

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

+

Start Elevation: 10,247’ | 3,124 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 1,312’ | 400m Distance: 4,887’ | 1,490m Avg. Slope: 31% | 17.0° Max. Slope: 50% | 26.7°

404’ | 123m 956’ | 292m 47% | 25.1° 65% | 33.1°

Pete’s Arena

Peregrine Jump Goshawk Co nne cto r

174’ | 53m 493’ | 150m 38% | 20.9° 54% | 28.5°

The Talon

+

Men’s Super-G Start

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

+

448’ | 136m 1,059’ | 323m 47% | 25.1° 54% | 28.5°

P

RUSSI’s Ride

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Goshawk Jump

461’ | 141m 1,945’ | 593m 25% | 13.8° 42% | 22.8 °

+

Screech Owl Jump Westfall Road

Men’s SLALOM Start Start Elevation: 9,627’ | 2,935 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 692’ | 211m Distance: 2,263’ | 690m Avg. Slope: 32% | 18.0° Max. Slope: 50% | 26.7°

H

Golden Eagle Jump

+

The Abyss

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Men’s Combined Slalom Start

Harrier Jump

Start Elevation: 9,627’ | 2,935 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 692’ | 211m Distance: 2,263’ | 690m Avg. Slope: 33% | 18.2° Max. Slope: 46% | 24.6°

un tai n

Mo

Redtail Jump

+

697’ | 212m 2,224’ | 678m 33% | 18.4° 50% | 26.7°

LEGEND Men’s FIS Alpine Course LADIEs’ FIS Alpine Course

Lift

+

+ Medical Point H Helicopter Landing Zone

use

Format: The downhill starts at 10 a.m., followed by the slalom at 2:15 p.m. The best combined time wins.

The downhill: The course starts at 11,424 feet and drops 2,470 feet over 1.52 miles.

The slalom: The course is slightly shorter than a regular slalom at Beaver Creek with a lower start. It starts at 9,627 feet and drops 692 feet during 0.42 miles.

Defending Worlds champ: Ligety (still wearing bib No. 20).

Winners of combineds at Beaver Creek: Aksel Lund Svindal (2006, but not competing today), Daniel Albrecht (2007 and now retired) and Janka (2009, wearing No. 22).

Top five in points in downhill among those competing (in order of points with bib): Kjetil Jansrud (13), Dominik Paris (25), Steven Nyman (38), Beat Feuz (29) and Matthias Mayer (8).

Top five in points in slalom among those competing (in order of points with bib): Marcel Hirscher (9), Alexis Pinturault (21), Victor Muffat-Jeandet (16), Kostelic (17) and Ligety (20). This was a long search. Hircher is the only top-five slalomer competing today.

Weather: Still balmy. The forecast is a high of 47 with a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Winds are meant to be at 10-15 mph.

Birds of Prey Lift

The speedsters, mathematically, have the advantage because the downhill — Switzerland’s Patrick Kueng (not competing today) won said event in 1 minute, 43.18 seconds — comprises a greater portion of the combined time than the slalom run, which is somewhere around a minute. That said, when the speed specialists, who usually don’t practice slalom during the season, try tackling the gates, chaos ensues.

The “Who has the advantage — speedsters or tech skiers?” debate in the combined is much like the “Which came first? The chicken or the egg?”

Think we’re joking? Fifty-five guys have World Cup points in downhill this year and 54 have scored in slalom. Only two of those guys also have points in both. They would be Ted Ligety

Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:

Gro

The “Who has the advantage — speedsters or tech skiers?” debate in the combined is much like the “Which came first? The chicken or the egg?”

The Flyway

Start Elevation: 11,424’ | 3,483 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 2,470’ | 753m Distance: 8,603’ | 2,623m Avg. Slope: 31% | 17.0° Max. Slope 63% | 32.3°

pr

BEAVER CREEK — In theory, it’s simple.

Be the fastest in the downhill and the fastest in the slalom, and you win the men’s combined.

It ain’t that easy.

And that is why today’s race, which starts at 10 a.m. with the downhill and has the slalom at 2:15 p.m., is just wide open.

First off, the combined is not contested often, so we don’t have a big sample size like we do in the traditional disciplines. There have been only two this season — Switzerland’s Carlo Janka (bib No. 22) won on home snow in Wengen and France’s Alexis Pinturault (21) won in Kitzbuehel, Austria.

+

Men’s Downhill & Downhill Combined Start

Ex

cfreud@vaildaily.com

2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Mens’ Course Map - Beaver Creek

ch

By Chris Freud

(20), three points in DH and 26 points in slalom, and Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic (17), one point in the DH and 44 in the SL. And those aren’t point totals that make you stand up and say, “THAT GUY is going to win.” (That would be Monday’s women’s combined, when Slovenia’s Tina Maze is the unquestioned favorite.)

This is anyone’s race.

Cin

Or watch the big guys try to slalom

H

P

Pumphouse

Finish +

THINGS TO KNOW

Watch out on the downhill: We issue our standard warning about the Talon Turn. Pete’s Arena was also throwing people around on Saturday.

Watch out on the slalom: Who has air in their lungs? Beaver Creek has the highest altitude on the World Cup. With the base of the course at 8,935 feet, even these superbly conditioned athletes will be sucking wind.

Favorites: We use the term

loosely. We’re listing the top five guys in combined points, based on two World Cup races: Janka (22), Pinturault (21), Muffat-Jeandet (16), Kostelic (17) and Ondrej Bank (19). Ligety’s here, too, because he’s the defending champ.

Darkhorses: If Hirscher (9) is within 2 seconds after the downhill, then this thing will be in his wheelhouse. It’s a big if. Maybe

the following don’t belong in this category, but we really want to see Americans Steven Nyman (38) and Andrew Weibrecht (6) slalom.

Americans: Jared Goldberg (5); Weibrecht (6); Ligety (20); Tim Jitloff (24) and Nyman (38).

The picks: Nobody had Kueng on Saturday, so we start afresh.

Shauna Farnell, Vail Daily:

Ondrej Bank.

Chris Freud, Vail Daily: Pinturault.

Pat Graham, AP Denver: Ligety.

Melanie Wong, Vail Daily: Ligety.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.

The start list for today’s men’s alpine combined Daily staff report newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 BYDLINSKI Maciej 2 KOSI Klemen 3 CATER Martin 4 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 5 GOLDBERG Jared 6 WEIBRECHT Andrew

POL SLO SLO SUI USA USA

7 MARSAGLIA Matteo 8 MAYER Matthias 9 HIRSCHER Marcel 10 MERMILLOD B. Thomas 11 CAVIEZEL Mauro 12 BAUMANN Romed 13 JANSRUD Kjetil 14 INNERHOFER Christof 15 ZAMPA Adam

ITA AUT AUT FRA SUI AUT NOR ITA SVK

16 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor FRA 17 KOSTELIC Ivica CRO 18 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko CRO 19 BANK Ondrej CZE 20 LIGETY Ted USA 21 PINTURAULT Alexis FRA 22 JANKA Carlo SUI 23 ROMAR Andreas FIN 24 JITLOFF Tim USA

25 PARIS Dominik 26 VRABLIK Martin 27 FERSTL Josef 28 MUZATON Maxence 29 FEUZ Beat 30 KRYZL Krystof 31 SIMARI BIRKNER C. J. 32 PRIDY Morgan 33 TRIKHICHEV Pavel

ITA CZE GER FRA SUI CZE ARG CAN RUS

34 SANDER Andreas 35 STRIEDINGER Otmar 36 RODES Istok 37 KLINE Bostjan 38 NYMAN Steven 39 KILDE Aleksander A. 40 ZAKURDAEV Igor 41 FEASEY Willis 42 ULLRICH Max

GER AUT CRO SLO USA NOR KAZ NZL CRO

43 PREBBLE Nick

NZL

44 ALESSANDRIA Arnaud MON 45 VON APPEN Henrik 46 ZAMPA Andreas

CHI SVK

47 VAN HEEK Marvin

NED

48 FAARUP Christoffer

DAN

49 ACHIRILOAIE Ioan V.

ROU

The Vail Daily

| Sunday, February 8, 2015 | A25

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

119 ELK MEADOWS

Patrick Kueng, of Switzerland, celebrates his win at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill race in Beaver Creek on Saturday.

TOWNSEND BESSENT TOWNSEND@ VAILDAILY.COM

Men’s downhill results 21 OSBORNE-P. M. CAN 22 FERSTL Josef GER 23 PARIS Dominik ITA 24 INNERHOFER Christof ITA 25 CATER Martin SLO 26 KILDE A. A. NOR 27 BRANDNER Klaus GER 28 MARSAGLIA Matteo ITA 29 STREITBERGER Georg AUT 30 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko CRO 31 ROMAR Andreas FIN 32 HEEL Werner ITA 33 KLINE Bostjan SLO 34 GLEBOV Alexander RUS 35 ULLRICH Max CRO 36 PRIDY Morgan CAN 37 VON APPEN Henrik CHI 38 FAARUP Christoffer DAN 39 ALESSANDRIA Arnaud MON 40 FEASEY Willis NZL 41 ZAMPA Andreas SVK 42 ZAKURDAEV Igor KAZ 43 SIMARI BIRKNER C. J. ARG 44 ACHIRILOAIE I. V. ROU

Daily staff report newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 KUENG Patrick SUI 2 GANONG Travis USA 3 FEUZ Beat SUI 4 NYMAN Steven USA 5 FAYED Guillermo FRA 6 SVINDAL Aksel Lund NOR 7 BANK Ondrej CZE 8 THEAUX Adrien FRA 9 WEIBRECHT Andrew USA 9 JANKA Carlo SUI 11 DEFAGO Didier SUI 12 MAYER Matthias AUT 13 REICHELT Hannes AUT 14 POISSON David FRA 15 JANSRUD Kjetil NOR 16 CLAREY Johan FRA 17 SANDER Andreas GER 18 THOMSEN Benjamin CAN 19 FRANZ Max AUT 20 GOLDBERG Jared USA

1:43.18 1:43.42 1:43.49 1:43.52 1:43.57 1:43.63 1:43.74 1:43.81 1:43.85 1:43.85 1:43.89 1:44.10 1:44.12 1:44.14 1:44.17 1:44.26 1:44.31 1:44.36 1:44.49 1:44.60

1:44.84 1:44.86 1:45.12 1:45.30 1:45.32 1:45.39 1:45.62 1:45.66 1:45.68 1:45.70 1:45.82 1:45.88 1:45.91 1:46.16 1:46.23 1:46.32 1:46.78 1:47.37 1:47.75 1:48.31 1:48.57 1:49.22 1:51.96 1:52.92

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A26 | Sunday, February 8, 2015 | The Vail Daily

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS Andrew Weibrecht yells in excitement as he enters the finish during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill in Beaver Creek on Saturday.

Weibrecht finished ninth, and the Americans had three racers in the top 10.

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AMERICANS

From page A23

happy for him. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling. I’ve got some slalom skills in these legs.”

WEIBRECHT CHARGES LATE All in all, the Americans put down a tremendous performance in Saturday’s downhill, not least of which came from “The War Horse,” Andrew Weibrecht. Wearing bib No. 35, the two-time Olympic super-G medalist from Lake Placid, New York, who has yet to land on a World Cup podium and has only finished top 10 once in a downhill (in Beaver Creek way back in 2007), somehow managed to tie for ninth with

Carlo Janka on Saturday, finishing just 0.67 seconds off of the winning pace.

Weibrecht was leading the race until dropping speed after the Harrier Jump. He was pleased with his run and is also looking forward to an opportunity to try it again in today’s combined.

“I knew I was skiing well,” Weibrecht said. “It’s always hard to tell. On that flyway, I can be really slow sometimes. I knew I skied well down the pitch, pretty much the whole thing. I was really happy with my skiing today. I’m excited I have one more day to take a shot at this.”

The first racer on course, Jared Goldberg, of Utah, finished 20th on Saturday — his second best career result in downhill since his 12th place in Wengen, Switzerland, last year.

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A28 | Sunday, February 8, 2015 | The Vail Daily

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS Ondrej Bank stirs up some snow as he crosses the finish line during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill in Beaver Creek on Saturday.

In addition to a virus contracted on a trip to Thailand, Bank has had nearly every skiing injury imaginable, yet he still might be a contender in today’s men’s combined.

95

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Banking on Ondrej Bank?

Czech skier is a threat in combined after overcoming incredible obstacles

By Shauna Farnell

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BEAVER CREEK – Coming back from adversity is an overarching theme at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships with all of the amazing return-from-injury stories starring Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal, Beat Feuz and even Bode

Miller before his crash in his unbelievable super-G run earlier this week.

But few World Cup racers have overcome more health-related obstacles than the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Bank.

Bank is one to watch in today’s alpine combined race following his seventh-place finish in Saturday’s downhill, just over a half-a-second away from a gold medal, and after his third-place finish in the alpine combined race in Kitzbuehel, Austria, his only World Cup podium besides his big 2007 podium in the Beaver Creek combined race.

BANK, A29

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

BANK

From page A28

SEEING THINGS DIFFERENTLY The 34-year-old is coached by his brother and had his first World Cup start a rather startling 14 years ago. He has competed in four Winter Olympic Games and this is his seventh World Championships. He is waiting for his shining moment. But following a bout with a rare virus that hospitalized him for months and numerous other major injuries, he sees everything in a new light.

“I do everything a little different. It’s not about results now. It’s about (how) it’s just nice to be on the hill,” Bank said.

“If I’m talking with my wife and she’s pissed about small things, I tell her, ‘Be

| Sunday, February 8, 2015 | A29

Steak elevated.

happy because you’re healthy. You have a healthy son … everything.’ That’s what’s important.”

The virus, which he contracted in the spring of 2011 while on vacation in Thailand from either the water or the food — his doctors still aren’t quite sure — spun him into an intense fever for six months.

He dropped more than 30 pounds. He honestly thought he might never see a racecourse again, much less ski down one.

“I wasn’t thinking about skiing at all,” he said. “It was pretty serious.”

Bank, who no longer experiences symptoms from the mystery illness but still has to undergo a number of tests at the hospital every six months, was no stranger to health issues before this. In his ski career, he has

BANK, A34

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Vonn earns first medal for USA Fenninger gets gold in super-G, followed by Maze and Vonn; America’s first medal at Worlds on home snow since ’89. A24-34

DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Lindsey Vonn tries to keep a tuck as she flies down the super-G course during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s super-G on Tuesday at Beaver Creek. Vonn took bronze in the race behind Austria’s Anna Fenninger and Slovenia’s Tina Maze.

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The Vail Daily

FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN’S DOWNHILL

From page A22

“All day long I was super relaxed and just having a good time,” Ganong said. “It was unbelievable. Skiing is the most fun thing you can do. When it works out well at a venue, on a stage like this, it’s just so special.”

COMEBACK COMPLETE Feuz is only 27, but he seems to have had a lifetime of World Cup experience both good and bad. The good came when he seemed on the verge of becoming a breakout star finishing second in the World Cup overall race in 2011-12. Having

already missed two seasons to injury earlier in his career, a left-knee injury sidelined him in 2013-14, and he still didn’t look right last season.

At the Birds of Prey’s downhill earlier this year, Feuz busted out with a second-place finish. Running with bib No. 15, Feuz knocked Nyman off the hot seat.

“Sometimes, I have not so good a feeling,” Feuz said. “When you go on this hill, you have to go fast with a lot of aggressiveness. But today, for me, it was easy. I have no mistakes and the ski goes really fast, and I have to know to push to the limit. That was the key — to go fast to the limit.”

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A32 | Sunday, February 8, 2015 | The Vail Daily

FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS American Andrew Weibrecht tucks through the air as he speeds down the middle section of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill on Saturday at Beaver Creek. Despite not being scheduled to race until Bode Miller got hurt on Thursday, Weibrecht finished ninth.

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Weibrecht, Goldberg fill in for Miller in downhill Tough competition for final spots pays off for Team USA

By Melanie Wong mwong@vaildaily.com

BEAVER CREEK — Up until Friday’s downhill, Andrew Weibrecht, who had a top-10 finish in Saturday’s race, wasn’t even sure if he’d be in the starting gate for the

2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s downhill.

Bode Miller, who is out for the season with a major injury after crashing in Thursday’s super-G, left a spot open on the men’s speed team that coaches were not sure how they would fill. Each country can enter four athletes in each discipline, and with both Travis Ganong and Steven Nyman

TEAM USA DEPTH, A33

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

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From page A32

qualified, two spots remained open. “We had three guys for two spots after Bode went out,� said Weibrecht, who has two Olympics super-G medals. “Steven and Travis were qualified, and then it was a little bit up in the air who would take the other two spots between Jared (Goldberg), Marco (Sullivan) and myself. In the end, they chose me and Jared for the remaining two spots.�

The “War Horse,� as Weibrecht is nicknamed, did not disappoint coaches and fans, skiing into a ninth-place finish, tying with Switzerland’s Carlo Janka. It was a successful day for the Americans, with teammates Travis Ganong in second, Steven Nyman in fourth and Goldberg in 20th.

Weibrecht’s run had crowds on their feet as he attacked the course in his signature style, looking like he was in line for a topfive finish until a small mistake near the Harrier jump cost him. “I knew I made a mistake at the bottom — just off Harrier, I flew off the pitch and wasn’t able to keep the speed up the last couple turns,� he said.

Even with Miller out, Weibrecht said the veteran downhiller imparted some words of wisdom on the other racers. “I really like to talk to Bode about the approach,� Weibrecht said. “He likes to take it pretty aggressive, and so do I. (Before the second training), we talked about the

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American Jared Goldberg comes in for a landing after catching air on the Redtail Jump during the men’s downhill of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Saturday in Beaver Creek. entrance to the pitch at that Talon Turn area. The tactic I’ve been taking there has been working pretty well, and that came straight from him.�

YOUNG GUN Meanwhile Goldberg, a 23-year-old from Utah, has been moving upwards in the U.S. Ski Team ranks, getting his start in World Cups in 2012. Last year, he visited a lot more of the circuit, with results that snagged him a spot on the Sochi, Russia, Olympic Team in 2014.

He said he was confident he had a spot in Saturday’s downhill after posting fast training runs earlier in the week.

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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS

BANK

From page A29 had three broken legs, several broken hands, a shattered shin, two major knee surgeries following ACL tears, a dislocated shoulder sustained after hitting a gate here in Beaver Creek and, as the result of another run-in with a gate while training in Chile, a shattered jaw. But the illness was the worst.

“I think already before that, my view was a little different than others,” he said. “It was just another bad thing. I was laughing because it was so bad. I was saying if I will not die now, I will win some medal.”

HAPPY TO BE HEALTHY Now, in the midst of the best season of his career — in addition to the podium in the Kitzbuehel, there was also an eighth place in the Wengen, Switzerland, alpine combined and a ninth in that downhill — Bank is truly a medal contender going into today’s alpine combined race.

“It’s a little bit like a dream because I felt somewhere inside me that I can do a thing like this,” he said. “But after two years of no skiing, to have this chance and do the podium in Kitzbuehel and a few good results in Wengen … it’s like a dream for me.”

But a medal isn’t really at the top of the Czech’s priority list after all he’s been through. He’s just here to enjoy the experience.

“After my injuries and illness, it changed me a lot,” he said. “Sounds a little bit like a cliche, but for me it’s not really. The important thing is to be healthy.”

TEAM USA DEPTH

From page A33

“I was kind of on the cusp, but I’ve been proving myself and scoring in the last few World Cups and showing a lot of speed, so there was no doubt in my mind that I’d be here today,” Goldberg said after his downhill run.

He was the first on the start list on Saturday, an experience he said reminded him of his days forerunning at Beaver Creek as a younger skier.

“It was awesome today,” he said. “It was like glass, like you were out surfing. It was all smooth, and I felt like I could easily make a correction if needed.”

Weibrecht said that the team’s strong showing despite Miller’s absence proves that the speed team is having a strong season.

“Obviously, we miss Bode, but we’ve had two guys win (on the World Cup), multiple guys in the top five and multiple guys in the top 10,” he said. “Despite losing Bode and not having him ski all year, we’ve still got a really solid team. We have some guys who have a couple good years left in them, for sure.”

Assistant Managing Editor Melanie Wong can be reached at 970-748-2927 and at mwong@vaildaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @mwongvail.

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