Travis Ganong of Squaw places fifth Dec. 5 in Beaver Creek. Photo/Cody Downard/USSA

By USSA

BEAVER CREEK — It was a huge day Dec. 5 for the Americans in Beaver Creek, with Steven Nyman pulling off a third place podium finish and Travis Ganong of Squaw Valley grabbing fifth place. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, who won the super G and downhill in Lake Louise last week, took another win and Beat Feuz of Switzerland finished second.

The notoriously well-prepped Audi Birds of Prey course looked fast Friday, with light snow falling in the early morning, but clearing in time for the first run.

Seven Americans ran the downhill. Ted Ligety (Park City) finished in 28, Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.) in 30, Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley) in 38, Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) in 40, Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley) in 52 and Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.) in 53.

But the story of the day was Nyman, who was in first place for 15 racers and finished in third after an incredible run.

“It’s huge to be on the podium today, especially with 2015 [World Championships] coming up,” relayed Nyman. “I woke up this morning and wasn’t that confident. I had to talk to myself and say ‘OK, this is your opportunity.’”

“Once you get that momentum, it’s hard to stop. I’m hoping I snowball it in,” said Ganong. “I’ve actually been top 10 at every race since Kitzbuhel last year, so I’ve had good consistency there. Hopefully, I can step on top of the podium a couple times this year.”