Posted by: thepinetree on 12/20/2020 11:18 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 12/20/2020 11:20 AM
Expires: 01/01/2025 12:00 AM
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Career-First Top 10 for Strawberry's Keely Cashman in Val d’Isere Super-G ~ By Courtney Harkins
Val-d'Isère, France....Twenty-one-year-old Keely Cashman took home her first FIS World Cup top-10 result in the Val d’Isere super-G on Sunday, finishing 10th. Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic, best known for her surprising win in the PyeongChang Olympic super-G, won her first World Cup super-G. Just .03 seconds behind her was Corinne Suter of Switzerland, who made it three podiums in a row in Val d’Isere. Federica Brignone, who sat out Saturday’s downhill after crashing hard in Friday’s race, was third.
VAL D'ISERE, FRANCE - DECEMBER 20: Keely Cashman of USA celebrates during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Super Giant Slalom on December 20, 2020 in Val d'Isere France. (Photo by Michel Cottin/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)<
Running bib 35, Keely attacked from the back for the third time this weekend with her typical no-holds-barred style and was thrilled to come down and see herself in 10th place. “It’s pretty crazy,” she said. “These are my first World Cup speed races in Europe, so I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to ski confident and to ski how I know I can ski and I knew if I did that, it would work out. I’m happy with the results.”
Keely’s star has been rising quickly over the past few seasons, culminating in a win of the 2020 NorAm downhill and overall title and a bronze in the 2020 Junior World Championship alpine combined. While she raced a handful of North American World Cups last season, this season, she’s racing in Europe with the team. And so far, so good. Over the weekend in Val d’Isere, she put down a 17th place in the first downhill, 16th place in the second downhill, and finally cracked the top 10 in the super-G.
Keely credits a lot of her success to her Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team teammates, who have helped the World Cup rookie learn the ropes and inspired her with results like Breezy’s podiums in Val d’Isere. “This is my first year with the speed crew,” said Keely. “It’s awesome to have a lot of older girls to take me under their wing. They’re super helpful. Watching Breezy do so good this weekend hypes everyone up and everyone is just so pumped to ski. When everyone is building off each other, it’s good for everyone.”
On top of that, the speed training offered by Copper Mountain, Colo. at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center this November was crucial, and it's paying off for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team speed crew—both men and women—as they racked up personal bests and podiums this weekend and looked comfortable in the process.
Rounding out the U.S. team, Isabella Wright was 33rd, and Breezy Johnson—who caught an edge and had a great recovery, narrowly missed doing the splits—37th. Jackie Wiles crashed and did not finish.
Next up, the women have a short break for the holidays before the tech team heads to Semmering, Austria December 28.
RESULTS
Women’s super-G
HOW TO WATCH
All Times EST
Sunday, Dec. 20
9:30 p.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Women's Super-G - Same Day Delayed Broadcast, Val d'Isere, FRA, Broadcast NBCSN
Source US Ski & Snowboard Assn. By Courtney Harkins
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