Sölden: McNichol hopes team can build off this

Sunday in Sölden proved to be just as super as Saturday, with two Americans finishing in the top five and Ted Ligety showing the world that he means business this season. Bode Miller removed all doubts about his health with a blistering second run to finish fifth on the Rettenbach Glacier on a day where the light and conditions were variable from one racer to the next.
SÖLDEN, Austria — Sunday in Sölden proved to be just as super as Saturday, with two Americans finishing in the top five and Ted Ligety showing the world that he means business this season. Bode Miller removed all doubts about his health with a blistering second run to finish fifth on the Rettenbach Glacier on a day where the light and conditions were variable from one racer to the next.
    Head coach Phil McNichol was thrilled. “Today was excellent. It’s a fantastic start for us,” he said. “It’s a good indicator of where we’re at and what we need to do.”
    Always a litmus test for every team, Sölden has a way of identifying off-season shortcomings. But not so this year for the Americans. “I didn’t know what we’d look like against the other teams,” McNichol said. “We hadn’t trained with anybody else, but now I’m pretty confident that our training went well. This really calibrates things, it’s like setting your clock. We can really build on this result this weekend.”
    While Ligety’s result wasn’t unforeseen, leading after his first run found him in new territory, having to start last for the second run due to the reverse-30 format. “Ted doesn’t seem to get nervous,” said Jesse Hunt, USSA alpine director. “But I think he was getting back a little over the big break, and he’d already lost some time at the interval. But he’s never led a World Cup GS before.”
    “The clouds came in, and it was way bumpier, but Sölden’s always like that on the glacier,” Ligety said. “Coming onto the big pitch, I hit some bumps and it scratched my confidence a little bit.” He finished just .32 seconds out of the top money, as Aksel Lund Svindal skied a flawless second run two racers before him.
    “Svindal skied an amazing second run,” McNichol said. “He was the only guy who didn’t throw any spray in the middle guts of the steep pitch.”
    “It was good to have a good second run, to show that I could prove that my first run was just mistakes,” Svindal said. “I just tried to ski a normal run, to make no mistakes and to be committed the whole way.” Wearing the GS leader’s bib from last year’s overall world title, Svindal was peppered by journalists about plans for this year.
    “I like to think that if you practice you can be good,” Svindal said. “People aren’t good at anything because they’re lucky. You have to work hard. Since I won the globe last year, I know what it takes to win it. My goal isn’t to win it again, but to be in a position to fight for it again.”
    But he downplayed the light at the end of a long season’s tunnel. “As good as a podium is, it’s better to cross the finish line and know you skied a good run.”
    After all the prerace questions and drama surrounding Team America, Miller’s skiing did the talking, again, leaving no questions that will be a contender for every race he enters. After a wild first go, Miller led the second run until Svindal bumped him by more than a second. Then the last three skiers knocked him from the podium to fifth place. “Bode absolutely ripped his second run,” said McNichol, his former coach. “That’s the Bode I know. It’s some pretty serious action. It was cool to see.”
    The rest of the American skiers failed to make the cut of 30, but it was encouraging for a team recovering from injuries and lack of World Cup experience. Jake Zamansky finished 39th and was happy just to get back on track. “I thought I skied pretty well,” he said. “I was charging, but the light was super-flat, and I stuffed it into a hole at the bottom of the pitch and had to try to keep it together from then on.”  
    Dane Spencer’s return to racing has been an incredible story within itself, having broken his neck and pelvis in 2006. “It was tough,” Spencer said. “I knew the World Cup would be a rude re-adjustment, but it’s great just to be back. They iced me in the start house [after a course hold for DNFer Arnold Reider of Italy], which wasn’t really ideal for my mental situation.” McNichol was proud of Spencer for his first race back. “This is a nerve-wracking, scary course, but once he got into it, he skied solid toward the bottom,” McNichol said.
    "It's crazy to say, but my expectations have been ramped up," McNichol added, "because of the way he's [Dane] been skiing."   
    Tim Jitloff finished 48th and veteran Erik Schlopy 49th. “Eric’s coming back from an injury, and he’s not quite at 100 percent yet,” Hunt said. “The intensity wasn’t quite there. In the next month, it’s going to be really important for him to get healthy and get some quality GS training in. He’s really motivated, and he’s done well at Beaver Creek before.”
    U.S. men's tech coach Sasha Rearick praised both Ligety for his podium finish and Spencer for his fortitude.     
   "This was so sweet! Ted on the podium is great but Dane doing what he's done in the last year and a half after breaking his neck. That's just about as big a story," Rearick said. "Ted worked so hard through the preseason, whether it was dryland training or at the camps, checking equipment, working on his technique and just learning how to win and handle the pressure. It all came together for him today.
    "It's a great start for the season — for Ted, for Dane, for the Team. This is a pretty special day."   
    Ligety’s hard work in the off-season already has paid off and has given the team its first taste of success to build on. “Ted has been really focused throughout the preparation for this season,” Hunt said. “He’s hungry and motivated, and it shows in his training. That translates into great things for his racing.”

    — USSA contributed to this report