For the first time in more than a decade, an American racer has stepped onto the podium at the Stifel Birds of Prey downhill race.
Vermont native Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished second to Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt on the Beaver Creek downhill, the first of the World Cup season, while Norway’s Adrian Smiseth Sejersted was third. The most recent American to finish among the top three racers in the downhill at this venue was Steven Nyman, who was second in 2014.
Odermatt, seeking his fifth consecutive overall World Cup crystal globe, came across the line in 1:29.84 minutes. Cochran-Siegle was 0.30 seconds back, and Sejersted was 0.69 off the pace. It was Odermatt’s first downhill win at Birds of Prey, though he is a three-time winner in the super-G at this venue, known for its challenging terrain. The 28-year-old has been the dominant force in Alpine ski racing the last five years, and this season has won three of the first six races in three different disciplines -giant slalom, super-G, and now downhill. The Swiss star is the defending discipline champion in downhill, super-G and giant slalom for the last two seasons and holds nine globes overall. Friday’s win was the 48th of his career, which ties him for ninth with Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) on the all-time winner’s list, led by American Mikaela Shiffrin with 104 career wins.
“I was just trying to have an attacking approach with my skiing,” said Cochran-Siegle. “I was feeling the terrain and skiing my line.”
Asked what it felt like to have a podium finish in front of an American crowd, Cochran-Siegle noted, “It’s special. As an American kid growing up, Birds of Prey was always such a special event. I scored my first World Cup points here.” He admired the now-retired Stifel U.S. Ski Team racers who also had success at this venue. “I have such respect for those guys — Travis (Ganong) a few years ago in the super-G, Steven (Nyman), Daron (Rahlves), Bode (Miller) — all those guys. It’s cool to stand among those legends, but at the end of the day,, it’s still just skiing.” Miller and Rahlves combined for two downhill wins apiece at Birds of Prey. Collectively, the two had six wins and five podium finishes. Nyman was on the podium three times in Beaver Creek, and Ganong had the most recent podium with a third place finish in the super-G in 2021.
“Knowing not every day is going to be perfect, I am just trying to put it together from top to bottom and having a good mentality,” Cochran-Siegel added.
The course was shortened due to early season weather conditions that hampered course preparations, particularly in the finishing stretch. The Vail Valley Foundation, which has organized World Cup ski races at Vail and Beaver Creek since the mid-1980s, worked closely with the International Ski Federation (FIS), the U.S. Ski Team and Beaver Creek Resort to achieve the optimal race course for the weekend’s events. While winter storms threatened to interrupt the week’s training schedule, Thursday’s weather was sunny for most of the race.
The slightly shortened course did not faze Odermatt. “It’s just the last 10 seconds that were different,” he said of the finish line that was positioned further up the track. “Sure, we would love to ski to the bottom, but in the end, we were very happy. They did everything possible to have the race.”
Odermatt had a smooth run from start to finish, “For me, it was a perfect race,” he said. “It was just nice to ski here again. In the steep part, I felt comfortable, and I felt like I could attack.”
The race also marked another step in the comeback of Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, 33, who suffered severe injuries in early 2024 at a downhill at Wengen, Switzerland, and did not race again until the super-G at Copper Mountain the week before the races in Beaver Creek.
Thursday’s race was the second of his comeback, and Kilde finished 11th, 1.37 behind Odermatt. He is a two-time winner in both downhill and super-G at Birds of Prey. Aside from his significant racing accomplishments – he has 21 World Cup victories across his career – Kilde is also well known as the fiancé of Mikaela Shiffrin, who lives in the area in nearby Edwards when not racing.
Racing continues Friday with the Stifel Birds of Prey men’s super-G at 11:15 a.m. local time (MST). Saturday will be a day off from racing. The giant slalom will be held on Sunday, first run scheduled for 10 a.m., followed by the second at 1 p.m.
Share this Story:
