Kriechmayr edges Odermatt in shortened Val Gardena downhill, Canada's Crawford finishes 7th
Frédérique Turgeon places 4th for top Canadian finish in Para Nordic event
A double world champion two seasons ago. The winner in Wengen last winter. Now, Vincent Kriechmayr has added victory in the classic Val Gardena downhill to his growing list of career accomplishments.
The Austrian edged defending overall World Cup champion Marco Odermatt by 0.11 seconds on a shortened Saslong course in Italy on Thursday in a race that was rescheduled from Beaver Creek.
Three-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer finished third, 0.13 behind.
Canada's Jack Crawford posted another top-10 finish, sliding into seventh place with a time that was 0.32 back of Kriechmayr. It was the 25-year old's third top 10 of the season and his best finish ever at Val Gardena.
"Today was a strong result for Jack," said men's speed coach John Kucera. "The team had good speed today and the guys had small errors that were costly as the racing was so tight. We're looking ahead to the next two days with the super-G tomorrow and the downhill on Saturday. The course looks to be fast so hoping that the team can bring the same speed and that we get some results."
WATCH | Canadian Crawford finishes 7th in Val Gardena:
Odermatt raced immediately before Kriechmayr and celebrated his run as if he had just recorded his first career win in downhill.
But the more experienced Kriechmayr showed his feel for the extensive series of bumps through the technical ciaslat section and was faster than Odermatt over the final jump and into the finish.
"I tried to keep 2 per cent back just to get out more speed after the ciaslat and I think that's why I'm in the lead, because I was pretty fast in the last part of the race," Kriechmayr said. "Because it's a sprint, you have to keep pushing from start to finish."
It was Odermatt's first time racing the downhill in Val Gardena.
"I really didn't know if I can score points, or top 10, podium," he said. "I had really no idea. It's perfect. It shows the timing and high flow and everything is working at the moment."
Odermatt planned to skip the regularly scheduled downhill on Saturday to rest up for giant slaloms — his best discipline — over the next two days in nearby Alta Badia.
"Now I have to rethink again," he said.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won the opening two downhills of the season, placed fifth, 0.26. He pointed to starting from the lower super-G start as the reason for the tight margins.
"Today, if you're not bringing speed the whole way then you're out," Kilde said. "That was my case. I didn't really bring the speed on the bottom part and then no chance."
Kriechmayr swept the downhill and super-G titles at the 2021 world championships in nearby Cortina d'Ampezzo then won the downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, in controversial circumstances last January after missing the official training runs because he was in quarantine with COVID-19.
This was the 13th win of Kriechmayr's World Cup career and his sixth in downhill. He won the super-G on the Saslong in 2019.
Odermatt and Kilde remained 1-2 in the overall standings, while Kilde topped Odermatt in the downhill standings.
Canadian Para alpine skiers also in action
Meanwhile, Canada's Para skiers also missed the podium at World Cup event in Steinach am Brenner, Austria on Thursday.
Frédérique Turgeon, of Candiac, Que., placed fourth in the women's standing event, while teammate Alexis Guimond (Gatineau, Que.) was fifth in the men's competition.
"It was a good day of racing," said Guimond. "I was in the game and it was a really close race. Overall I'm happy with my approach and I'm really looking forward to putting one down in the GS tomorrow."
In men's sitting, Brian Rowland (Merrickville, Ont.) finished 7th and Kurt Oatway (Calgary, Alta.) did not finish.
With files from CBC Sports
