Yongpyong, South Korea • Ted Ligety looked at the clock and couldn’t believe it. On a bluebird day, on the hill where he won his first World Cup, America’s giant slalom king’s reign had come to an end.
“I was really surprised when I saw the time,” Ligety said. “It didn’t feel like I crushed it, but it didn’t feel like 2 1/2 seconds back.”
Ligety’s fourth Olympics were a comeback story in itself after multiple surgeries and three straight seasons ended by injury. They were a medal quest, too, as the Park City native tried to defend his gold from Sochi, or at least muscle his way back onto the podium.