By USSA

WENGEN, Switzerland — It was thigh-burning, legs-shaking race at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Wengen, complete with crashes, screaming fans and course holds. Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah) was the top American finisher of the day, grabbing 14th place, while Hannes Reichelt from Austria took first. Competing on home turf, Beat Feuz and Carlo Janka of Switzerland rounded out the podium.

It was a perfect bluebird day on the Lauberhorn — one of the classic downhills on the World Cup circuit. The men reached 100mph speeds in front of the 30-40,000-person crowd, and had to put everything they had into this course — the fastest guys had times of 2 minutes, 36 seconds, which makes this the longest World Cup downhill.

Nyman was thrilled about his 14th place finish — especially because he is still recovering from being sick, which left him low-energy throughout the week. “Stephen is finally feeling better,” said Sasha Rearick, men’s head coach. “He had the pukes a couple times.”

Nyman confirmed his feelings about his run. “I’m happy with my run overall. I surprised myself today,” he said. “I had some energy. I never even got to ski the top and I was pretty fast up there.”

Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah) had a good run, as well — skiing to 23rd place. Crashing into the finish, he looked to the board to see his result and pumped his fist in excitement. “That’s all you can do—give all the energy you have,” Goldberg said, after his run. “We ran about an hour and a half after the top guys. I’m definitely happy.”

Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley) and Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley) — who finished 44th and 31st respectively — were not thrilled with their results, both getting caught in the soft snow. Their thoughts have now turned to Kitzbuehel. “On a hill like [Wengen], I just haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll try again next year,” said Ganong. “With Kitzbuehel, I know the hill well now and can excel there. I can’t wait to get on the Streif.”

Wiley Maple (Aspen) did not finish, skiing out after hitting the fence.