Alpine Skiingmen's world cup
The first victory in the career of the 30 year old American hides a great strength of soul and quality, as Davide Simoncelli revealed 4 years ago. And in the coming days, you will find him training in Folgaria ...
Monday 9 December 2019 8 minutes reading time
Tommy Ford was the real surprise of the giant who finished the Beaver Creek weekend, but behind the story of the 30 year old American able to win for the first time in the World Cup at 30 and right in front of the star audience and stripes, there is much more than a career often referred to as honestly placed.
No, the native of Oregon, who grew up on the slopes of Mount Bachelor (who still sponsors him) where he started skiing at the age of two, hides several interesting aspects to consider in order to understand the character and the still unexpressed potential: "I have worked so hard to achieve this, but there are no secrets. I trusted the skiing and in some ways it was also quite simple, "Ford said in the post-race after taming the" Birds of Prey ".
And it is really so, because the talent is quite evident already at a first glance, a naturalness that led him to manage the second run as if nothing had happened, after having "turned" halfway through the race in front of everyone, even in this case for the first time. There are those who compare it to Ted Ligety, to whom the technical material also shares it, certainly the work carried out in recent years with a man of great experience like Forest Carey has been fundamental to get to this point and launch into the giant on Saturday, on the Face de Bellevarde in Val d''Isère, as leader of the specialty ranking in the "hottest" period among the wide doors.
In the week that will divide us between the races in Savoy and the giant in Alta Badia (22 December), among other things, Ford and companions (including Ted Ligety) will train on the snows of Folgaria. A great opportunity for enthusiasts, because of howling folds they will see all right ...
HISTORY
After his studies at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, the good Tommy soon entered the federal frameworks and, not even 20 years old, at the Junior World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (2009) he took home the silver medal in. .. slalom. At the beginning of the following season, the debut in the World Cup in Soelden (without qualifying for the 2nd round), right on that Rettenbach that ten years later, last October 27th, led him to obtain the best career result, with the fourth place then "canceled" by the business on Sunday in Colorado.
The American gigantist had already shown good things in the European Cup, with two victories in the specialty between Meribel and Zell am See (2011 and 2012), but in January 2013, here is the stop that will affect much of his career; fracture of the right femur in La Clusaz, doing freeskiing, with various operations and complications that will keep him out of the game for almost two years (with the Olympics in Sochi lost, after having participated in Vancouver 2010 and before competing again in PyeongChang 2018).
The return, after a few races at Nor-Am and FIS level, takes place directly at the world championships of ... Beaver Creek, the place in the destiny of Ford that, even if few will notice it, will end 19th in giant on the Birds of Prey, an extraordinary result in itself that precedes the return to the World Cup by a few days, which takes place on 1 March 2015 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with points immediately useful thanks to a 23rd place.
To seize the first top ten in CdM it will take over two and a half years from that final of the 2014/15 season, or December 2017 when, back in Beaver Creek, the '89 class of Bend is tenth place.
And yet, important numbers had already been seen, such as December 20, 2015 on a university track like the Gran Risa: Ford is 30th after the giant's first round in Alta Badia and, before seeing it in the second race, a certain Davide Simoncelli (in the cabin to comment live with Raisport) spoke of a "talent out of the ordinary, stopped only by physical problems". He climbed up to the 12th place, touching the top ten that arrived two years later.
The last positive turning point in his career comes at the heart of last season: the first group entry took place in Soelden last October (thanks also to Hirscher's retirement), it was mainly the result of placings obtained 12 months ago between Val d''Isère (6th), Alta Badia (5th) and Adelboden (6th), within less than a month and on three classic, very hard, the most beautiful and difficult tracks on the circuit.
Guess which ones will be next on the calendar, on which to defend the red bib of the giant's leader?
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