After a promising first leg of super combined, Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) hiked twice in the slalom portion of the race, moving back to 27th place overall. Austria's Benjamin Raich, just off a giant slalom win in Beaver Creek, won.
Ligety, the reigning Olympic champion in combined, was tied for fourth with Raich, just .41 seconds off leader Carlo Janka of Switzerland, after the super G portion of the race.
UniversalSports.com will webcast Friday's super combined on demand.
Raich posted the seventh best slalom run to win with a combined time of 2:02.48. Jean-Baptiste Grange of France was second and Austrian Marcel Hirscher, starting with bib number 52, finished third.
"I'm not so much disappointed as I am annoyed," Ligety said. "It's not that much fun when you come down and you're in a good place after the super G and I don't capitalize. It wasn't easy because it was so tight and the snow was inconsistent."
Despite his disappointment, Ligety was quick to turn his frustration into fuel for Saturday's giant slalom. Ligety is coming off a second-place finish in Beaver Creek where he was just one-hundredth of a second behind Raich. Only ten points separate Ligety and Raich in the giant slalom standings, so Saturday's race looks to be a heated one.
"It's a really steep hill and it's technical, which is my favorite for giant slalom, so I am pretty psyched for tomorrow," Ligety said.
Ligety will also look to shake a string of ties and close finishes he has had with Raich so far this season. They tied for seventh place in the super G at Beaver Creek, again in the super G portion of the super combined and just five hundredths separated them at the season opener in Soelden.
Source
Raich Wins Super Combined
Raich Wins Super Combined
