Combined, Men

Already the winner of the giant slalom and slalom, Benjamin Raich, the 2005 combined World Champion and World Cup leader, was a heavy favorite. Far better as a technical skier, he placed only 13th in the downhill portion of the combined, but won the first run of the slalom to move into the lead. But then on the second slalom run, he straddled a gate and did not finish. The downhill had been led by American Bode Miller, who was having a terrible Olympics, and he continued that trend, not finishing the first slalom run. Behind Raich after the first slalom run were Croatian Ivica Kostelić, and surprising American Ted Ligety, who was a slalom specialist, with three podium finishes in World Cup slaloms in 2005-06, but who had only been named to the US National Team in 2005, and had never placed in a combined event on the World Cup circuit. The final slalom run was won by France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange, who was not a medal contender, having placed only 45th in the downhill and standing 24th going into the second slalom effort. But right behind him was Ligety, which brought him a shocking gold medal. Kostelić was only 12th in the second slalom run but held on for the silver medal, with bronze going to Austrian Rainer Schönfelder. Ligety would win the 2008 World Cup title in giant slalom, but thru 2011, has never again won a combined event.