Sullivan 19th in Shortened Downhill

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Feb. 23) - Veteran Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) was 19th to lead the U.S. Ski Team in a shortened Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill Saturday in Germany as Birds of Prey downhill champion Christof Innerhofer of Italy claimed his third win of the season. The race course was shortened after heavy snow covered the Kandahar course over night, making track preparation of the upper section difficult. Action now shifts to giant slalom on Sunday with triple World Champion Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) returning to the site of his 2011 GS gold to seek a record fifth World Cup victory this season in the discipline.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) led early in the Kandahar downhill, but got hung up in the tricky mid section to finish lead the U.S. with a tie for 19th.
• Christof Innerhofer of Italy, who won the Audi Birds of Prey downhill in Beaver Creek, CO, won for his third victory of the season.
• The start was lowered after heavy snow fell across Garmisch in the days leading up to the race.
• Early starters Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) and Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) finished 33 and 42 respectively
• Action now shifts to giant slalom Sunday with Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) seeking a record fifth GS win of the season.
• Ligety, who captured three gold medals at the recent World Championships, won his first World Champs GS gold at Garmisch in 2011.
• Universal Sports Network will broadcast the race at 11:30 a.m. ET

QUOTES
Marco Sullivan
I was good on top and then hit a little soft on the lower turns and that’s where I lost all my speed. Everyone has been saying I took the tightest line through the turny midsection, but then I got caught up in the bumps. Still it was a good result, I’m 13th in the downhill standings right now and it’s pretty tight around that group. If I have a good result in Norway next week, I’ll have a shot at finishing out the season in the top 10.

They did a good job clearing the snow so the track itself was hard snow, but you didn’t want to get out of the track at all. The top flat especially got a little faster throughout the day and that made it really tough for Steven and Travis, who had early start bibs. You saw guys just outside the top 30 coming in with some really good finishes. Safe to say, it wasn’t the best day for the USA, but we’re going to turn that around in Norway.

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