Tommy Ford earned his first World Cup win at age 30 and ended the U.S. men’s longest victory and podium droughts in two decades.
Ford won the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colo., on Sunday, the last North American race on tour this season. He prevailed by eight tenths of a second combining times over two runs.
“There’s all sorts of thoughts going through the mind [before the last run], some nerves coming up. Just working with them, clearing them,” said Ford, in his 86th World Cup start dating to 2009. “I’ve been skiing as hard as I can, skiing well and been on this path for a long time.”
Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen were second and third. American Ted Ligety, fourth after the opening run, finished 11th.
Ford became the first U.S. man to win a World Cup since Travis Ganong took a downhill on Jan. 27, 2017. He also became the first U.S. male podium finisher since Ligety in January 2018. Both were the longest droughts for the program since the late 1990s.
Ford, a 2010 and 2018 Olympian who missed the 2014 Olympics due to a broken femur, had been working toward this moment.
He finished a World Cup career-high fourth at the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 27. Last season, the Oregon native, former Dartmouth student and Wu-Tang Clan fan had a pair of fifths.
The men’s World Cup moves to Val d’Isere, France, next weekend for a giant slalom and slalom.
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