SUN VALLEY, Idaho — If Bryce Bennett misses the downhill at the World Cup finals, there’ll be a good reason.
Bennett’s wife Kelley is expecting the couple’s first child, and her due date is Saturday. Which just so happens to be the same day as the downhill final.
‘Going to the hill this morning, I’m like, `What the (heck) am I doing?’ But it’s all good,’ Bennett said after Friday’s training run. ‘When you’re skiing, doing the inspection, it’s fine. You don’t think about it. It’s when you go back to the hotel in the afternoon and you’re sitting around and you’re like, `What the hell am I doing?”
The downhill is the only race Bennett qualified for in the finals, and he’s planning on leaving as soon as it’s over. A friend in the ski community has offered the use of a private jet so he can get back to the Lake Tahoe area, where he’s from, as soon as possible.
But if his wife goes into labor before the race, Bennett said he won’t think twice about leaving.
‘It’s only a ski race,’ he said. ‘I’m out. So fast.’
Bennett said he and his wife, who got married in September 2022, didn’t want to put off having a family until the two-time World Cup winner is finished ski racing. But the World Cup season runs from October until March. Then there are the ski camps and preseason training.
Having a baby now made the most sense, he said.
‘It’s honestly ideal’ timing, Bennett said.
So long as the baby doesn’t come on time, that is. But if it does, Bennett and his wife will have a good story to tell him or her.