American Bryce Bennett returned to the podium on Saturday, two days after winning his first World Cup in two years.
Bennett finished third on the downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, six tenths of a second behind Italian winner Dominic Paris and 16 tenths of a second from second place Alexander Ahmot Kilde of Norway.
“I felt better today than I did Thursday,” said Bennett, who won from No. 34 and was the 18th starter Saturday. “There’s a lot of things to deal with. I’ve never been in a situation where I had a good run in a race and then had another chance in the same week. So mentally I couldn’t handle it. Trying to get through that and having a good run is like a big win for me.”
Bennett, 31, became the first American to finish on the World Cup downhill podium multiple times in a single season since Steven Nyman in 2015-16. And Bennett accomplished that in his first two downhills of the season.
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Bennett entered Val Gardena with his best World Cup result in two years, seventh place, since his previous victory there.
He called the 2022-23 season a “complete disaster” after finishing 35th in the downhill standings.
Her best result at both Olympics was 16th place.
Nyman and fellow World Cup winner Travis Gannon both retired after last season, making Bennett the only active American player to win a World Cup downhill.
The 34-year-old Paris scored his first World Cup win since March 2022 and his 18th career win in downhill, moving him into third place in the men’s career rankings alongside retired Austrian Stefan Eberhalter. The only men who did better were Austrian Franz Kramer, 25, and Swiss Peter Müller, 19.
The men’s Alpine World Cup continues with the giant slalom in Altabadia, Italy, on Sunday and Monday.