Ligety: In it to win it

Ligety, 21, dazzled in Sestrières on his way to becoming the Olympic combined champion, winning the first slalom leg in the process after a predictably weak downhill run.

He is now setting his sights on upsetting the likes of Italy's Giorgio Rocca, the undisputed favourite who has already won the World Cup slalom crown.

"Winning the slalom portion of the combined event against guys like Giorgio definitely gives me confidence," said Ligety.

The youngster admits that the pressure is off now he has already completed his target of winning an Olympic medal.

"I'm kind of surprised I did it in the combined, for sure, but now I'm just looking forward to the slalom. It should be good. I will see how it turns out, but I definitely would not be excited about a silver medal at this stage. I'm not skiing for second."

Besides Rocca, Ligety has pinpointed giant slalom gold medallist Benjamin Raich as a main contender.

"Raich's going to be hard to beat because he's skiing so well," he said, before countering: "But Benny's been having trouble with the second runs and so you never know."

The Austrian looked to have the combined event under control after typically dominant displays in the downhill and opening slalom run. But Raich missed a gate in the second run to hand Ligety the gold medal.

Ligety, however, has nothing but admiration for Raich, who went on to hold his nerve and win a maiden Olympic gold medal in the giant slalom just days later.

"It's cool to watch him ski the way he did, especially in the second run. I'm sure he's really pumped up for the slalom."

Ligety took a moment to sympathise with his unfortunate team-mates Daron Rahlves and Bode Miller, a pair who expected so much from the Games.

"I'm definitely surprised that both Bode and Daron are walking away without a medal," he admitted. "Bode still has another chance in the slalom. If he gets things rolling, he will definitely have a good chance of winning.

"For sure, it's a bummer for Daron because it was his last Olympics. So, I feel pretty sorry for him."

As for Saturday's course, Ligety is upbeat that he can use it to the best of his ability, and has a suggestion as to where the race will be decided.

"I should like this hill a lot," he said. "It's not extremely technical, it's not tons of training, but there is a little break-over here and there which you have to watch out for. The bottom flat is super important to carry your speed through there and then make speed all across the flat.

"That is definitely where the race is going to be won or lost."