Ligety slid hard on his hip, but recovered for 2nd in Val d’Isere (Francis Bompard/Getty Images)
“He’s a phenomenal technical skier, and he brought it out today in a very tough race, one of the toughest races I’ve ever seen,” said Men’s Alpine Team Head Coach Sasha Rearick.
Indeed, Ligety’s run wasn’t mistake-free, but the rest of the field endured worse struggles.
“It never felt excellent the entire way down the course, but to be in second place now is pretty excellent,” Ligety said. “It was just a struggle today, nobody was gonna feel excellent, so I was able to use my GS skills and have a decent-enough run.”
Ligety’s previous high was a seventh-place end at Beaver Creek in December 2008.
Amazingly, the giant slalom specialist wasn’t even pleased after laying down a 1:21