Nyman wins on vintage skis

Nyman's ski man Leo Mussi previously worked with Italian downhiller Ghedina who bowed out of top-flight skiing at the end of last season.

"Leo won here four times with Ghedina and now with me. There is no better man to have, he has so much knowledge of this course and he gave me Ghedina's old skis for today's race and it worked out perfect," said the 24-year-old Nyman, whose previous best result was third place in the Beaver Creek downhill in Colorado two weeks ago.

Ghedina paid farewell to his favourite slope on Saturday by participating as a forerunner - using a pair of skis he wore in 1989 when he gained his first podium finish on the Saslong course.

"He is such a character," said Nyman. "He is always smiling and will be missed on the World Cup circuit."

Nyman, a Mormon from Utah, is never short of a smile himself and like Ghedina is no stranger to unorthodox methods - he used the internet auction service Ebay to search for a helmet sponsor during the close season.

"It created a lot of publicity and generated a lot of headlines. It was a stunt really which got my name out there, it was mostly friends and family who bid for the space," he added.

Nyman beat experienced Swiss Didier Cuche into second place by just 0.02 seconds on the Saslong piste where he had crashed during training earlier in the week.

The victory completed a great weekend for the U.S. team after their top performer Bode Miller won the super-G race here on Friday.

Nyman, who grew up in Sundance where he used to cut the lawn of actor Robert Redford, said he was happy for the outspoken Miller to keep taking the limelight however.

"He creates chaos around him, taking the weight off the other guy's shoulders, he deals with it quite well," he said.

The excellent U.S. showing was completed by a fine run from Marco Sullivan who finished just off the podium in fourth place and Nyman said he felt the Americans were emerging as a major force on the men's circuit.

"Marco was just off the podium and that kid is fast," he said.

"Then there is Ted Ligety and Jimmy Cochrane in the technical disciplines. There are a lot of good guys coming through - the team is coming on strong."

By contrast, Austria's men have yet to win a speed event in this season's Cup but Nyman said they remained the major power on the slopes.

"They have started off slower than normal but all those guys are constant threats and they also have young guys emerging.

They are all great skiers who have just been making some mistakes. They will get wins - don't worry Austria," he said.