Sport News
Reichelt strikes again
After two days of full on winter conditions and temperatures well below the freezing point, Saturday was a completely different story. A warm weather front moved in overnight drastically changing the conditions of the snow on the course and even forcing Organizers to salt the course to ensure even conditions for all racers.
As if the high temperatures weren’t enough, a tick fog on the top sections forced the lowering of the start to the reserve position, shortening the downhill race for the third year in a row. Luckily, once the start was lowered and the course salted, the downhill race proved as exciting as expected with Hannes Reichelt once again being the man to beat. His 1 minute 29.65 seconds long run earned him his third downhill victory of the season.
In second place, Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis laid down possibly his best run of the season and crossed the finish line 0.30 seconds behind Reichelt while Italian Werner Heel rounded out the podium, finishing 0.38 seconds behind.
Reichelt has been on a roll over the past few weekends, finishing on the podium in every downhill since returning to Europe from the World Championships.
“I’m not a machine. It’s just running really good at the moment, like Kjetil had it at the beginning of the season,” Reichelt tried to explain the success.
While Reichelt entered today’s race as one of the favorites, Osborne-Paradis was hardly a top contender for the podium as after finishing second in Lake Louise in November he didn’t manage to earn a top 15 finish in downhill the rest of the season.
“Pretty sweet way to end such a terrible season,” said Osborne-Paridis. “Now it’s not so terrible. I’ve been talking with my coaches, having a really tough time getting over not being 100 percent. The last two races I’ve been kind of feeling normal. … On our team, we have a theory if you’re over 30 and out of the 30, you should go get a real job, so I’m glad I was able to step up my game.”
And today seemed to be payback day not only for Osborne-Paradis. Heel has had a rough season so far as apart from two seventh and a tenth place he kept finishing far out. But in Kvitfjell things seem to simply fall in place for the Italian and today was no different.
“I love this course. I had my first victor here in 2008 and I’m back to the podium here in downhill,” said Heel. “For me, it was a great day and I hope I can repeat this tomorrow in the super G. … I’m not sure what changed for me here in Kvitfjell. When you have a course that you have good memories, it’s always cool. The last month was very down. I came back here and had a good feeling in the first training run and I’m happy I was able to bring it on race day.”
With Reichelt’s momentum picking up and Jansrud struggling to maintain his pace from the beginning of the season, the chase for the downhill title is getting more and more exciting. After not managing to secure the title early, Junsrud will be entering the the final race of the season in Meribel with a 20 points advantage over Reichelt.
“I felt that I did a good run, and that I only made one mistake. I felt unlucky, and have been feeling that for a while. I can't get where I want to be,” Jansrud said after his 7th place finish. “I've had the opportunity to settle this cup for a while now, so it sucks to ruin it for myself.”
While Jansrud tries to fight the disappointment and regroup for the last races of the season, Reichelt seems to be getting more and more pumped by the prospect of adding a downhill title to his name.
“Hopefully I can bring the flow to Meribel to keep a chance for the globe. When you have a goal in sight, you do everything to try and achieve that goal. Hopefully I have a chance to make it exciting,” he said.
Source: fis-ski.com
As if the high temperatures weren’t enough, a tick fog on the top sections forced the lowering of the start to the reserve position, shortening the downhill race for the third year in a row. Luckily, once the start was lowered and the course salted, the downhill race proved as exciting as expected with Hannes Reichelt once again being the man to beat. His 1 minute 29.65 seconds long run earned him his third downhill victory of the season.
In second place, Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis laid down possibly his best run of the season and crossed the finish line 0.30 seconds behind Reichelt while Italian Werner Heel rounded out the podium, finishing 0.38 seconds behind.
Reichelt has been on a roll over the past few weekends, finishing on the podium in every downhill since returning to Europe from the World Championships.
“I’m not a machine. It’s just running really good at the moment, like Kjetil had it at the beginning of the season,” Reichelt tried to explain the success.
While Reichelt entered today’s race as one of the favorites, Osborne-Paradis was hardly a top contender for the podium as after finishing second in Lake Louise in November he didn’t manage to earn a top 15 finish in downhill the rest of the season.
“Pretty sweet way to end such a terrible season,” said Osborne-Paridis. “Now it’s not so terrible. I’ve been talking with my coaches, having a really tough time getting over not being 100 percent. The last two races I’ve been kind of feeling normal. … On our team, we have a theory if you’re over 30 and out of the 30, you should go get a real job, so I’m glad I was able to step up my game.”
And today seemed to be payback day not only for Osborne-Paradis. Heel has had a rough season so far as apart from two seventh and a tenth place he kept finishing far out. But in Kvitfjell things seem to simply fall in place for the Italian and today was no different.
“I love this course. I had my first victor here in 2008 and I’m back to the podium here in downhill,” said Heel. “For me, it was a great day and I hope I can repeat this tomorrow in the super G. … I’m not sure what changed for me here in Kvitfjell. When you have a course that you have good memories, it’s always cool. The last month was very down. I came back here and had a good feeling in the first training run and I’m happy I was able to bring it on race day.”
With Reichelt’s momentum picking up and Jansrud struggling to maintain his pace from the beginning of the season, the chase for the downhill title is getting more and more exciting. After not managing to secure the title early, Junsrud will be entering the the final race of the season in Meribel with a 20 points advantage over Reichelt.
“I felt that I did a good run, and that I only made one mistake. I felt unlucky, and have been feeling that for a while. I can't get where I want to be,” Jansrud said after his 7th place finish. “I've had the opportunity to settle this cup for a while now, so it sucks to ruin it for myself.”
While Jansrud tries to fight the disappointment and regroup for the last races of the season, Reichelt seems to be getting more and more pumped by the prospect of adding a downhill title to his name.
“Hopefully I can bring the flow to Meribel to keep a chance for the globe. When you have a goal in sight, you do everything to try and achieve that goal. Hopefully I have a chance to make it exciting,” he said.
Source: fis-ski.com
