Bryce Bennett added to a long list of American success in Val Gardena by winning the first classic downhill of the World Cup season on Saturday.
The 6-foot-7 Californian joined teammate Ste-ven Nyman (three downhill victories) and Bode Miller (one super-G victory) as American winners at the resort in the Dolomites. For his first career victory, Bennett finished 0.14 seconds ahead of Otmar Striedinger of Austria and 0.32 ahead of Niels Hintermann of Switzerland amid perfect conditions. “The feeling was fast. It was way faster than the training runs,” Bennett said. “I was flying off the jumps.”
Bennett had never finished better than fourth (twice in Val Gardena and once in Bormio) and now can go to the upcoming Beijing Olympics with new-found confidence.
“It just happened — finally. It’s been a long time,” Bennett said. “It was out of left field a little bit. … There were no expectations of this.” The entire U.S. team has been stepping it up lately with Travis Ganong posting a podium finish in Beaver Creek, Colorado, and Ryan Cochran-Siegle regaining his speed after breaking his neck last season — plus Nyman making yet another comeback from injury at age 39.—AP
