Industry News
Finally, after weeks and weeks of cancellations, the first Men’s Downhill of the season took place today, December 14, 2023, in Val Gardena/Gröden, Italy. The weather Gods were smiling down, with blue skies and gleaming sunshine, as the world’s fastest and most fearless male alpine skiers shot down the Saslong course. There was freshly fallen snow on the trees, but it did not impact the race course negatively. The Speed Opening was on, after cancellations at Zermatt, Switzerland, and Beaver Creek, CO, and it went off with a bang, especially for Team USA, with Bryce Bennett winning first place in a nailbiter of a race, that saw less than a second between the top 30 men.
Alexander Crawford from Canada was first out of the gate. Bib no 1 is always difficult as you cannot gauge how your time compares and you can get no feedback from team support on the course from other skiers’ runs. He sat however a very strong pace that ultimately earned him a top 10 position.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle from Team USA was second and put down a smashing run, finishing 0.08 seconds behind his neighbor from the north. Crawford held the leadership position until Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt raced, although Germany’s Josef Ferstl looked like he could snatch the lead up until the last jump, where the German went a bit too wide and lost valuable milliseconds that costed him the lead. Odermatt went out of the gate looking a bit slower, 0.09 seconds behind leading Crawford but seemed to come into the swing of things on the middle section, looking almost cheerful on his way down as he flew over the jumps, enabling him to gain incredible speed over the course, and finishing 0.27 seconds ahead of Crawford.
All eyes were on Norway’s Kilde with bib no. 10 who had won at the Saslong Classic last year. Kilde skated out of the gate pushing and skating for quite a while until going into the tuck. He shot down the course with his fearless style, flying through the jump sections in rodeo style, snatching the lead from Odermatt by a mere 0.02 seconds. The Swiss was laughing from his victory seat in the finish area, as there is of course immense respect between the two ski racers.
Italy’s Mattia Casse in bib 11 flew down the course with a solid 0.2-second lead on the top section but seemed a bit out of control on some of the jumps in the mid-section, costing him the lead, finishing in what was ultimately 12th place. Germany’s Romed Baumann with bib no. 12 went through the top with good absorption and clean jumps securing him a 0.08-second lead ahead of Kilde but the rollers on the middle section threw his smooth style. He hit one gate on the lower section and skied finishing 0.40 seconds behind Kilde and 0.38 behind Odermatt, leaving a gap big enough for a competitor to slide into.
Canada’s James Crawford in bib 14 pushed and skated forcefully, sending him 0.14 seconds ahead of Kilde on the top section. He extended the lead to 0.32 seconds but his wild style cost him time on the more technical parts of the lower section, but it was enough to slide into the gap left by Baumann, finishing in what ultimately was fifth place. Vincent Kriechmayer by comparison looked entirely in control on every jump and roller on the top section, but the Austrian struggled on the roller section in the lower part of the course and finished outside the top 10.
Team USA’s Jared Goldberg offered us a wild ride, looking at times somewhat reckless and nearly losing control on two occasions but that it what ski racing is all about: skiing at the edge of your ability, and that he did. The risky run paid off with a top-20 finish for Goldberg.
Then from more of the back of the field with bib no. 25 came Frenchman Nils Allegre, who shot down the course like it was no effort, squeezing into the gap between second and third, snatching the podium from Crawford. With the top 30 skiers at the bottom of the course, the podium seemed to be Kilde, Odermatt, and Allegre but then came Bryce Bennett from Team USA with bib no. 34.
Bennett shot down the course like it was his home run, and in a way, it was: the track has suited the American Alpine team several times, with Bennett winning here in 2021 and Bode Miller winning first place in 2006.
Bennett snatched the victory from Kilde with an effortless and smooth run, just 0.03 seconds ahead of the Norwegian and 0.05 seconds ahead of Odermatt. Incredibly, it is only Bennett’s second career World Cup victory as well as his second-ever World Cup podium. He won the 2021 Downhill in Val Gardena/Gröden and has placed within the top 10 on the Saslong another four times, in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020. An amazing result for Bennett and Team USA. This catapults Bennett back into the top 30 skiers, meaning a better starting number for the remainder of the season.”
“Yeah, I mean… what… speechless… again… […] there is just something about this place. I love it. Before I went to bed, I had a good plan and I felt confident. I started inspection in a good way and I warmed up. In the start I looked down and was like ‘This is your hill, ski it how you want to ski it and trust yourself’ and … green light again in the finish! That was pretty good. It’s nice to start the season in this way.”
— Bryce Bennett
