American Travis Ganong takes silver in men's downhill
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. -- Downhill ski racers descend precipitous and icy slopes taking enormous risk and facing danger at speeds greater than 90 mph. At first glance, it appears to be a lonely, individual pursuit.
However, as U.S. ski racer Travis Ganong and a large supporting cast proved Saturday at the world championships, the sport is much more of a team effort.
The 26-year-old Ganong sped to a silver medal in the men's downhill, finishing 0.24 seconds behind Swiss winner Patrick Kueng.
As the last of the top seeded skiers starting 22nd, Ganong attacked and tamed the vaunted Birds of Prey course, pulling back nearly a half second on the lower section. He crossed the line to thunderous applause, moving into second place, a position that held up.
"It's unbelievable – skiing is the most fun thing you can do and when it works out well at a venue and on a stage like this, it's so special," said an ecstatic Ganong after the race. "This is the best moment of my career, for sure."
Contributing to the effort was Ganong's veteran teammate Steven Nyman, who radioed a course report to the California skier after his own run where he moved into the lead. Ironically, Nyman's unselfish assistance helped Ganong bump him off the podium from third to fourth place.
"Congrats to Travis, obviously I'm (upset) – I radioed up and just said 'Dude, the snow is great, send it, trust yourself and he laid it down,'" said Nyman, who finished fourth, just 0.03 seconds behind Swiss bronze medalist Beat Feuz.
"I'm happy for him," Nyman added.
"Steve Nyman inspired me," Ganong said. "He said the track was in perfect shape and to send it down the hill and that's what I did."
The easy going, yet fiercely determined Ganong won the first world championship downhill medal for the U.S. since Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves raced to gold and silver in Bormio, Italy, in 2005.
Miller and Rahlves played inspiring roles helping Ganong in his achievement.
Miller, who was forced to sit out Saturday's downhill following his spectacular crash in Thursday's super-G, in which he severed his right hamstring tendon and had surgery, has given Ganong valuable advice.
"Every time I've seen him he's just looked at me and is like 'Hey, you got this, you can do anything you want here, just stay relaxed, have fun and go for it,'" Ganong said about the two-time overall World Cup champion, whose racing future is now in question. "He's a lot older than I, he's been around forever and he's always been very nice to me. I hope we'll see him (racing) again."
Ganong also received guidance from Rahlves, a fellow Californian who won World Cup downhills in Beaver Creek in 2003 and 2005, in addition to the famed Hahnenkamm downhill.
"Two nights ago we watched the video from 2003 when he won," Ganong said of Rahlves. "He is instilling confidence in myself, he's saying you're a great skier and you can do this. We rode the lift together and I actually inspected (the course) with him today. He's a good friend of mine and I trust him."
Ganong has been progressively asserting himself as one of the top racers on tour. At the Sochi Olympics, he finished fifth in the downhill and in December, he achieved his first World Cup victory in Santa Caterina, Italy.
Starting 35th out of 48 racers, U.S. skier Andrew Weibrecht mounted a late charge and almost stole the show. The two-time Olympic super-G medalist found himself leading at two of the four intermediate times, before making a mistake and finishing ninth.
Weibrecht's result placed three U.S. skiers in the top nine.
"As a team effort, I couldn't have asked for any more," said U.S head coach Sasha Rearick. "Hats off to Travis,he's been making step by step and he finally got to the top a month ago and learned how to win."
"All of these guys put down runs that they should be extremely proud of," Rearick said.
Thousands of flag-waving fans packed Red Tail Stadium and the surrounding areas around the Birds of Prey track on a stunning Colorado Rockies late morning. Beaver Creek, hosting the first U.S. alpine world championships since 1999, witnessed a party-like carnival atmosphere as is customary at European ski races.
U.S. skier Jared Goldberg, who was the first out of the start house, said he was able to relax despite kicking off the home nation race with the raucous atmosphere.
"I rode up the lift with some drunk kids dressed like chickens, so that kind of relaxed me," Goldberg said.
"It was really cool coming down to this (large crowd in Red Tail stadium) moving into the lead by a couple of tenths and people just going nuts," said Nyman about the frenzied atmosphere.
Switzerland's Kueng became the first Swiss world championship downhill winner since Bruno Kernen in 1997.
Ganong said he can't wait to return to his home in Tahoe City, Calif.
"It just snowed two feet there last night – I'm going home on Sunday to rip around, have some fun with all my friends and have a party to celebrate."
PHOTOS: Alpine World Ski Championships