Italy's Dominik Paris tough at home, takes men's World Cup super-G
Beats Olympic champion for record 4th victory on Stelvio course
Italy's Dominik Paris made it two World Cup victories in two days on home snow by winning a men's super-G by the slimmest of margins on Saturday in Bormio.
Paris, who won a downhill on Friday, beat Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria by 0.01 seconds for a record fourth victory on the Stelvio course, eclipsing Austrian greats Hermann Maier and Michael Walchhofer.
"It's been two fantastic days," Paris said. "I don't have the words to describe it."
Top Canadian was Ottawa's Dustin Cook in 31st, followed by Jack Crawford in 35th and Ben Thomsen in 36th.
Crawford was pleased with what he described as some of his best skiing of the season.
"I sent it as hard as I could with a few mistakes, [including] one big one at the bottom," he told Alpine Canada. "Sadly, that's ski racing and the time didn't reflect the skiing."
Paris trailed Mayer by 0.33 at the final checkpoint but used his massive thighs to absorb all of the rolls and bumps over the final gates and maintain a smoother line.
"You've got to be a complete skier here — good technically and strong tactically," Paris said. "You've got to ski with your head because you can't just get in your tuck and point your skis downhill."
Saugestad airlifted to hospital
It was the 11th career win for Paris, including two victories in the famed downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
"Dominik deserves it," Mayer said. "We're in Italy now. So maybe when we're back in Austria we can switch positions."
Norwegian racer Stian Saugestad crashed midway down and banged his back and neck on the snow before hitting the safety nets.
Saugestad stood up and had a collar applied to his neck before being airlifted off the course by helicopter to a local hospital.
Injury details were not immediately available.
Aksel Lund Svindal remained atop the super-G standings despite finishing 17th. Svindal is 29 points ahead of Switzerland's Mauro Caviezel.
The World Cup resumes with a parallel slalom city event in Oslo, Norway, on Jan. 1.