Ligety back after long, painful road

The Washington Post

Over the summer and into the fall, Ted Ligety’s long road back was starting to appear headed for an unforgiving dead end. Injuries and time away from the hill had taken their toll, and Ligety looked nothing like the skier who'd raced in three Olympics, who had won two gold medals and posted 25 World Cup victories in his decorated career.

“He had missed so much training that his rhythm and timing was off,” said Sasha Rearick, the head coach for the U.S. men’s alpine team. “I'm not going to lie. In August, his skiing was not in his top form, by far. There was a lot of steps we had to take.”

Ligety had missed most of the previous two seasons because of injuries: a knee in 2016 and his back in 2017. With little time to prepare for the PyeongChang Games, Ligety and his coaches agreed he needed to take a step back, focusing on gentler runs. Rearick likened it to a weekend skier who needs to progress from easier green runs to expertlevel blacks.

Ligety slowly started to find his groove, and on Jan. 28, in his last race before the Winter Games, he reached the podium again in the giant slalom, the first time in more than two years. The third-place finish in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, he hopes, bodes well for these Olympics, where Ligety likely represents the U.S. men’s team's best chance at a medal.

”It was good to be back in a spot where I feel like I can challenge for wins,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the podium . . . . It’s definitely nice to do it the race before the Olympics as well. It’s a good time to have that confidence boost."

Ligety is suddenly the face of the U.S. men's al- pine team. Though he’s ranked No. 37 in the World Cup overall standings he’s the top-ranked American male. At No. 45, Bryce Bennett is the only other U.S. racer among the top 60. The Americans have 12 men altogether on their Olympic alpine team. Only Ligety has found the podium this year, and just two others have cracked the top 10.

Ligety looked like a dark horse, too, for much of the World Cup season. Coaches felt like he started to find his rhythm as the new year approached, cracking the top 10 in two World Cup stops in December.

“I was frustrated that the results weren't coming faster, I would say,” Ligety said. “I'm competitive. I want to be up there competing for podiums and wins. I felt like I was close.”

Finally, in his last chance before PyeongChang, he broke through. The thirdplace finish was a big relief. His last podium came more than two years ago, a 2015 stop in Beaver Creek.

“That's a step in the right direction,” Ligety said Tuesday. “There's still some ground that needs to be gained to reach that next couple steps above that. Hopefully I can continue that progression and get faster.”