Steven Nyman continues surge with fifth-place finish at Kitzbuehel

KITZBUEHEL, Austria — In a season characterized by hard work and perseverance, veteran U.S. skier Steven Nyman charged to a career-best fifth-place result Saturday at the world's most famous downhill ski race.

Racing in front of 45,000 spectators, Nyman skied an aggressive line on a shortened Streif course – lowered halfway down the mountain due to fog and poor visibility – and crossed the finish in 58.57 seconds, 0.41 behind Norwegian winner Kjetil Jansrud. The American's speed was clocked at 83.3 miles per hour.

"I've never done this well here, especially on the Hausberg (Jump). That thing usually eats me up," Nyman said after his Hahnenkamm downhill run. "Going across that with much more energy and being able to charge was a lot of fun."

Nyman was just two-tenths from his third podium finish of the season.

"I came in too straight on the super-G turns before the Hausberg, had to drift over and that was it right there," Nyman said of the lost time. "I had one mistake and other than that I skied pretty well."

In six previous visits to Kitzbuehel, the burly 6-4, 215-pound skier fromSundance, Utah, had never finished better than 19th in a downhill or super-G.

Nyman's U.S. teammate Travis Ganong – who was fast all week in training – made costly mistakes attempting to find his line and finished 44th. In only his second trip to Kitzbuehel, Jared Goldberg finished 25th.

Although present in Kitzbuehel, Bode Miller did not race, still recovering from ambulatory back surgery in November. The six-time Olympic medalist served as a race forerunner during training runs and is hoping to qualify for next month's world championships.

Nyman has flourished all season, having won a downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, on Dec. 19 and also on the podium in third this month at Beaver Creek, Colo. – site of next month's world championships.

Nyman's recent surge is impressive considering that the U.S. Ski Team veteran slipped to the team's "B" squad this season, the consequence of failing to finish higher than 19th in any race last season. Nyman had to pay $20,000 out of his own pocket to continue racing on the World Cup.

The 32-year-old Nyman has also battled an array of injuries throughout his 14-year U.S. Ski Team career.

After his second training run Thursday, Nyman admitted: "I've never really come here feeling this physically fit and confident on my skis."

"He's been working his butt off all summer and I'm really proud of him," said U.S. Ski Team strength and conditioning coach Toni Beretzki. "There's more balance in his skiing and today is no surprise to me."

Originally scheduled to start at 11:45 a.m., Saturday's 75th anniversary race was postponed three times. The first racer finally left the gate two hours later as officials were forced to lower the start, eliminating the precipitous Mausefallejump and Carousel turn into the icy Steilhang section.

The feared two-mile course was reduced to a one-mile sprint downhill.

Norwegian champion Jansrud tweeted before the start of the shortened race: "A tiger turned into a kitten, but still: Safety first. Will be a very tight race, but at least we'll have one."

Jansrud, the first Norwegian to win a Kitzbuehel downhill since Lasse Kjus took top honors in 1999, summed up his victory: "To win here at the legendaryKitzbuehel has been a big goal for many years and to make it happen is extraordinary."

Italian Dominik Paris – who was leading Jansrud at his final two split times – lost time approaching the finish and ended second, 0.02 seconds behind the Norwegian. Frenchman Guillermo Fayed finished third.

Nyman and his speed event teammates will return to the USA on Sunday morning following a lengthy six-week stint in Europe. Next up will be his fifth world championships, which kick off Feb. 2 in Vail/Beaver Creek, Colo.

"This is a good step forward and confidence builder going into Beaver Creek,"Nyman said. "I love that hill – I want to give it everything and see what I got. Hopefully I can win or get a medal. It's worlds, so you got to risk everything."

The 75th anniversary Hahnenkamm race carnival concludes with the traditional slalom Sunday.