Palisades Tahoe product Bryce Bennett secured the first World Cup victory for a U.S. male Alpine skier in two years.
The victory came in Italy on Thursday (Dec. 14) at the Val Gardena downhill as the men’s World Cup speed season finally opened a month later than scheduled. The previous two stops on the circuit were wiped out due to bad weather.
Born and raised in Truckee, Bennett got his start shredding the slopes of Palisades Tahoe at age 2. He joined the Palisades Tahoe Team’s youth development pipeline, and by age 8 he decided making the Olympics was a goal. The lofty goal was reached – Bennett previously competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games.
Bennett proudly boasts two World Cup victories. He also won the Val Gardena downhill two years ago. In his latest victory, Bennett took advantage of improving light on the Saslong course and edged two-time defending downhill standings leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 0.03 seconds.
The lanky 6-foot-7 Bennett used his tall frame to absorb the terrain in the technical Ciaslat section of the Val Gardena that characterizes the course. He crouched into an aerodynamic tuck to make up time on Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and two-time defending overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt in the steep final gates. Kilde was runner-up and Odermatt took third.
When he saw the result, Bennett held his arms out wide in apparent disbelief and flashed a wide smile framed by his mustache. Then he started screaming.
“I didn’t expect that at all. I woke up this morning and I had to let (out) all the doubt that’s been kind of following me,” Bennett said. “I just needed to ski. I needed to ski free and do a run that I know I’m capable of and trust myself and, yeah, it worked. That was quite the surprise to land and see green in the finish.”
This victory by Bennett brings an end to the longest U.S. men’s Alpine World Cup victory drought since the period from 1995 to 2000. The most recent American man to win a World Cup was Bennett.
Bennett returns to his roots later this season. The FIS World Cup returns to Palisades Tahoe Feb. 23-25, featuring the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup with Men’s Slalom and Giant Slalom events.
BENNETT ON PODIUM AGAIN: The American skier came in third place Saturday (Dec. 16) in the Men’s downhill, putting him on the podiumed twice within three days.
The 31-year-old from Palisades Tahoe, who started No 18th after winning from the No 34 bib Thursday, finished third in a downhill at Val Gardena in Italy, six-tenths of a second behind Italy’s Dominik Paris and 16 hundredths behind second-placed Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway.
“Today felt better than on Thursday,” Bennett said. “It’s a lot to deal with, and I’ve never been in that position where you ski well in a race, and then you have another opportunity the same week. So to try and get past that mentally and have a good run is, like, a huge win for me.”
According to NBC Sports, Bennett became the first U.S. man to make multiple World Cup downhill podiums in one season since Steven Nyman in 2015-16.
