LAKE LOUISE, AB (Nov. 29) - Olympic Champion Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) stepped up his status as an all around skier as he notched the third top-10 career result in a speed event Sunday as he finished eighth in the super G in the Audi FIS World Cup in Lake Louise.

"It's nice to come down like that. I'm pretty psyched about it especially since I've been so slow in the downhill training runs here, and even the training in Copper. So to get eighth is a surprise." Ligety said.

While his primary focus has been primarily with technical events, Ligety said he was able to put more emphasis on the super G because of its similarities to GS as well as its minimal time constraints.

"The last few years I have been working hard on the speed aspects, but I've been trying hard not to let it affect my GS and slalom so much," Ligety said. "So, super G is good because it only takes one day to do, but downhill is tough because it's four days, so I can't focus on it that much."

One thing working in Ligety's favor was a course set by Speed Head Coach Chris Brigham that incorporated both speed and turns.

"I was surprised because he set a course that used a little bit of the turns, so that helped me. It was pretty variable conditions. It was windy and dark, then the sun came out for some of the guys in the middle, but the whole way I skied pretty clean," Ligety said. "I couldn't think of any mistakes I made. I was getting bumped around a little bit on the flats and lost some time, but in the speed section I tried to stay ahead of it and skied like it was a GS. That worked out well for me."

Also on point for the U.S. Sunday was Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) who, for the second time in as many days, finished 12th in Lake Louise.

"It was sweet to get two good results in both super G and downhill right out of the start. I'm excited about the day," Weibrecht said. "I was 30th on the board and if I went out today or didn't get a top result I would have been pushed out of the top 30, so it was pretty huge for me. Just to know I have that speed and consistency, it's awesome."

According to Weibrecht, he realized what he needs to do for his consistency - nothing.

"The last couple day's I've figured out that my skiing is there and I don't need to try to do anything fancy or special," Weibrecht said. "I just have to ski within myself and it will all come together. It's nice to know I don't have to totally shoot the moon to have the results that I need."

Rounding out the top 20 finishes for the U.S. men was Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) who skied to 15th place.

"I had a big mistake and was 1.1 out in the first 30 seconds and only finished the race 1.27 out. At least I know that I am skiing well and hopefully I can eliminate those mistakes and be in there in the next couple weeks. It was a pretty good day for our team," Sullivan said.

Next up for the U.S. men is the Audi Birds of Prey Race Week at Beaver Creek.

Birds of Prey opens with super combined on Friday, Nov. 4 followed by the famed downhill on Saturday before wrapping with Ligety's bread and butter, the GS on Sunday.

"I'm going to be doing the combined and the GS up there and the GS has always been a great hill for me. I've been within a tenth or so of winning and it would be nice if I could get on the other side of that tenth," Ligety said. "It's also our only home race so it's nice to be racing in the U.S."

OFFICIAL RESULTS

2010 AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP

Lake Louise, AB – Nov. 29, 2009

Men's Super G

1. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canada, 1:32.93

2. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1:33.17

3. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:33.55

4. Erik Guay, Canada, 1:33.68

5. Robbie Dixon, Canada, 1:33.72

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8. Ted Ligety, Park City, UT, 1:33.87

12. Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, NY, 1:34.04

15. Marco Sullivan, Squaw Valley, CA, 1:34.20

23. Erik Fisher, Middleton, ID, 1:34.75

39. Bode Miller, Franconia, NH, 1:35.57

42. Jeremy Transue, Hunter, NY, 1:35.87

DNF: Travis Ganong, Squaw Valley, CA; Steven Nyman, Sundance, UT; Scott Macartney, Crystal Mountain, WA

Author of Story: Lindsey Sin