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Swiss soar in World Championship downhill
The Birds of Prey course took flight for today’s men’s downhill at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship presented by Audi and Patrick Kueng (SUI) soared to the gold medal.
Kueng was joined on the podium by American Travis Ganong and Beat Feuz (SUI). It was a strong day for the host nation as Steve Nyman finished in fourth place. It was the first World Championship medal for all three skiers in the day that was filled with surprises.
“For the Swiss and for me it’s unbelievable to have two Swiss on the podium,” said Feuz after the race. “This year in Wengen it was the same and now here on the Birds of Prey, it’s perfect.”
Many of the big names bowed out allowing for the underdogs to steal the spotlight. Kueng’s has only one previous win at the World Cup level, which came in 2014 in Wengen (SUI). Meanwhile, Ganong’s previous highest finish at a World Championship was 18th and he just earned his first World Cup victory earlier this season in Santa Caterina. Feuz’s last World Cup downhill victory came in 2012.
“It’s a very good day,” said Ganong after the race. “I just turned my brain off put a smile on my face, had some fun and made some good turns. It was almost a perfect run, but it’s definitely the perfect day.”
Kueng finished 0.24 ahead of the pack, but the rest of the top six were packed together as a mere 0.21 separated the next five skiers. Nyman missed the podium by a mere 0.03 seconds.
With the medals going to the podium newcomers, many of the pre-race favourites were finished in double digits in the standings. Matthias Mayer (AUT), Hannes Reichelt (AUT) and Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) were 12th, 13th and 15th, respectively. Jansrud’s teammate Aksel Lund Svindal continued to look strong in his comeback as one of the only big names to crack the top-six.
“It was tight, but that’s racing,” Svindal said. “It’s a good place, I was hoping for a touch better because a medal would have been the perfect way to wrap this week up, but that’s the way it goes.”
It looked like perfect conditions up on the course with blue skies and hard-packed snow, but gusty winds at the top of the course made things tricky throughout the 48 starters.
The Birds of Prey downhill course will have one more chance to dazzle tomorrow when the men’s Alpine Combined takes center stage, with starts at 10:00 (MST) for the downhill and 14:15 for the slalom. The ladies are in action on the Raptor course on Monday in the Alpine Combined.
Kueng was joined on the podium by American Travis Ganong and Beat Feuz (SUI). It was a strong day for the host nation as Steve Nyman finished in fourth place. It was the first World Championship medal for all three skiers in the day that was filled with surprises.
“For the Swiss and for me it’s unbelievable to have two Swiss on the podium,” said Feuz after the race. “This year in Wengen it was the same and now here on the Birds of Prey, it’s perfect.”
Many of the big names bowed out allowing for the underdogs to steal the spotlight. Kueng’s has only one previous win at the World Cup level, which came in 2014 in Wengen (SUI). Meanwhile, Ganong’s previous highest finish at a World Championship was 18th and he just earned his first World Cup victory earlier this season in Santa Caterina. Feuz’s last World Cup downhill victory came in 2012.
“It’s a very good day,” said Ganong after the race. “I just turned my brain off put a smile on my face, had some fun and made some good turns. It was almost a perfect run, but it’s definitely the perfect day.”
Kueng finished 0.24 ahead of the pack, but the rest of the top six were packed together as a mere 0.21 separated the next five skiers. Nyman missed the podium by a mere 0.03 seconds.
With the medals going to the podium newcomers, many of the pre-race favourites were finished in double digits in the standings. Matthias Mayer (AUT), Hannes Reichelt (AUT) and Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) were 12th, 13th and 15th, respectively. Jansrud’s teammate Aksel Lund Svindal continued to look strong in his comeback as one of the only big names to crack the top-six.
“It was tight, but that’s racing,” Svindal said. “It’s a good place, I was hoping for a touch better because a medal would have been the perfect way to wrap this week up, but that’s the way it goes.”
It looked like perfect conditions up on the course with blue skies and hard-packed snow, but gusty winds at the top of the course made things tricky throughout the 48 starters.
The Birds of Prey downhill course will have one more chance to dazzle tomorrow when the men’s Alpine Combined takes center stage, with starts at 10:00 (MST) for the downhill and 14:15 for the slalom. The ladies are in action on the Raptor course on Monday in the Alpine Combined.
Source: fis-ski.com
