After Lake Louise's victory in the Downhill, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde wins also the Downhill in Beaver Creek. The Norwegian skied again very aggressively and managed to be the fastest man on the Birds of Prey racecourse.
Kilde made it clear right at the start of the speed season in Lake Louise and today on the "Birds of Prey" racecourse in Beaver Creek that he wanted to successfully defend his Downhill World Cup Title. Today, the Norwegian won the second Downhill of the 2022-2023 season ahead of Marco Odermatt (+0.06 seconds) and James Crawford (+0.79). It's his eigth Downhill and 15th World Cup victory.
In the last 18 World Cup seasons, three Norwegians, Kjetil Jansrud in 2014-2015, and Aksel Lund Svindal in 2015-2016, and now Aleksander Aadmot Kilde have won the first two Men's Downhill events of the season.
“It has been a tough week. I caught the flu in Lake Louise after a nice weekend. It hit me really hard. I skied in clothes to have no sweat and take down everything a notch. I felt way better yesterday and that was fantastic. I still felt it a bit today but had enough strength for the two minutes I needed”, said Kilde.
After finishing in third place in the Opening Downhill held in Lake Louise last week, today was closer to win his first Downhill in the World Cup. Today's podium is his 6th one in the speed discipline. Last season he was really close to becoming the first man to record World Cup wins in the Giant Slalom, Super-G, and Downhill in a single season since Didier Cuche did it in the 2009-2010 winter season.
Since the start of last season at least one Swiss skier, Beat Feuz, Marco Odermatt, or Niels Hintermann, has finished on the podium in 12 of the 13 Downhill events in the men's World Cup. The only one without a Swiss on the podium was the first Downhill held in Kitzbühel.
“It is a little bit sad when it is just six-hundredths and you know where to find them but, that is ski racing. I am really happy with my second place. The conditions were very tough. I think it was not a super fair race today with the wind on top. For the first guys it was okay but the later are skiing well and they had no chance. That is a little bit sad. But that is our sport”, said Odermatt.
After three races, the battle for the Crystal Globes in the speed disciplines seems to be confirmed as a fight between Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt with the Austrians in the background. At the Lake Louise races, the Norwegian and Swiss shared victories in Downhill on Saturday and Super-G on Sunday.
Today, in difficult conditions - wind, poor visibility and light snowfall - with a Birds of Prey racecourse relatively soft due to the new snow, not as compact as in the training sessions, the two once again put up a gripping duel.
James Crawford completed the podium. It's the second World Cup podium for the 25-year-old Canadian. He finished second on the Super-G held in Kvitfjell last March 2022.
“I am fortunate to have quite a few years skiing the World Cup tour and it wasn’t until last year that I started breaking through. So when you get some exposure on the tracks and confidence, it is easy to go out there and do what you know. Today the skiing was good enough. There is still a gap to close to get to Kilde and Odermatt. Hopefully in the later races this year we can get that done”, said Crawford.
Matthias Mayer finished in fourth position and missed the Top-3 by one hundredth of a second (+0.80). The Austrian missed the podium once again after finishing fourth in the Downhill last week at Lake Louise. Vincent Kriechmayr was fifth (+0.94).
Comments