Ted Ligety won his third World Cup in a row today in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Ligety, from Park City, UT, is going to be one to watch during the Vancouver Olympics, especially in men’s giant slalom, super g and super combined.

Ligety rose up through the ranks of the U.S. Ski Team quickly. I remember a 2004 Europa Cup, a slalom in Kranjska Gora, when Ligety won out of nowhere. Looking back at his results, the next year on the same hill, he was third in the World Cup there.  His record at the hill is unbelievable, never worse than third.

Ligety won the gold medal in the 2006 Games in men’s combined. Since then, the format has changed from a downhill run and two runs of slalom, to one run of each. The switch will make defending gold more difficult, but he is clearly on his A-game in giant slalom. With Friday’s win, he moved to first place in the World Cup giant slalom standings, and he’s won the season gs title before.

Here’s what Ted had to say after the race in Kranjska Gora: