Osborne-ParadisThe initial training run ahead of the Lauberhorn Downhill at Wengen, Switzerland  is complete with Italian Christof Innerhofer leading by .89 of a second over Swiss great Didier Cuche with downhill standings leader Michael Walchhofer in third.

Tobias Gruenefelder of Switzerland was fourth and World Cup overall leader Ivica Kostelic fifth.

Both North American squads are weakened by injury and displayed a conservative approach to the longest track on the World Cup circuit. The Americans are without the services of Andrew Weibrecht to a dislocated shoulder that required surgery and ended his season. Marco Sullivan is home in California with a head injury.

“Nobody has been saying much because these head injuries are fickle in how they play out,” Sullivan said. ” I am hoping to be back this season, just not sure when.  One thing I can tell you is that I have been downgraded from a possible subdural hematoma, basically bleeding in the brain, to a TBI or traumatic brain injury, which as far as I can tell is just a bad concussion.”

The remaining Americans were down the finish order with Bode Miller 27th and Steven Nyman 29th. In a tie for 33rd was Ted Ligety. Though the GS standings leader has just one World Cup downhill result to his credit, it was a fourth at the end of the 2007 season at Lenzerheide.

Other U.S. results included Travis Ganong in 47th, Erik Fisher 56th, Tim Jitloff 60th and Wiley Maple 63rd.

The Canadians were also out for a casual training run as evidenced by Manuel Osborne-Paradis’ team leading 40th place finish. Jan Hudec was 42nd. Ryan Semple finished 57th and Kelby Halbert 68th. Robbie Dixon was in the start list but declined the start as he recovers from a concussion. He later tweeted he would not race at Wengen. Dustin Cook failed to finish. Eric Guay will miss his second straight downhill as he deals with a sore back.

Gepa photo of Manuel Osborne-Paradis

Place Wengen
(SUI)		 Discipline Downhill
Date 11.01.2011 Category Training
Race codex 1407 Gender M
Valid for FIS Points NO TD Name Both Peter (AUT)
    
  
OFFICIAL RESULTS – FIRST TRAINING
RankBibFIS CodeNameYearNationTotal Time
 1 1 293006INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA  2:34.07
 2 10 510030CUCHE Didier 1974 SUI  2:34.96
 3 12 50041WALCHHOFER Michael 1975 AUT  2:35.53
 4 3 510747GRUENENFELDER Tobias 1977 SUI  2:36.29
 5 19 380260KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  2:36.42
 6 2 50858STREITBERGER Georg 1981 AUT  2:36.55
 7 23 201606KEPPLER Stephan 1983 GER  2:36.76
 8 9 51005SCHEIBER Mario 1983 AUT  2:36.95
 9 24 560332JERMAN Andrej 1978 SLO  2:36.99
 9 14 50753KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT  2:36.99
 11 8 511313JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  2:37.13
 12 42 191591BERTRAND Yannick 1980 FRA  2:37.25
 13 54 293550MARSAGLIA Matteo 1985 ITA  2:37.27
 14 36 294277KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA  2:37.31
 15 7 421328SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR  2:37.43
 16 34 291459PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  2:37.60
 17 11 292514HEEL Werner 1982 ITA  2:37.62
 18 29 192746THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  2:37.65
 19 28 510767HOFFMANN Ambrosi 1977 SUI  2:37.70
 20 13 501076OLSSON Hans 1984 SWE  2:37.95
 21 57 150398BANK Ondrej 1980 CZE  2:38.08
 22 20 191740CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA  2:38.23
 23 37 51327PUCHNER Joachim 1987 AUT  2:38.33
 24 18 50833GRUGGER Hans 1981 AUT  2:38.37
 25 25 500150JAERBYN Patrik 1969 SWE  2:38.65
 26 41 510498ZUEGER Cornel 1981 SUI  2:38.69
 27 4 532431MILLER Bode 1977 USA  2:38.80
 28 17 51215BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  2:38.84
 29 27 533866NYMAN Steven 1982 USA  2:38.89
 30 47 292291THANEI Stefan 1981 ITA  2:39.13
 31 40 290998STAUDACHER Patrick 1980 ITA  2:39.30
 32 44 511634SPESCHA Christian 1989 SUI  2:39.31
 33 52 294904PANGRAZZI Paolo 1988 ITA  2:39.49
 33 33 534562LIGETY Ted 1984 USA  2:39.49
 35 45 561067PERKO Rok 1985 SLO  2:39.62
 36 22 191964POISSON David 1982 FRA  2:39.79
 37 46 511383FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  2:39.80
 38 31 421483JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  2:39.82
 39 39 511529GISIN Marc 1988 SUI  2:39.90
 40 6 102899OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  2:40.11
 41 32 50625RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT  2:40.28
 42 43 102271HUDEC Jan 1981 CAN  2:40.57
 43 5 510890ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 1981 SUI  2:40.90
 44 67 193034BOUILLOT Alexandre 1985 FRA  2:40.96
 45 49 201811STECHERT Tobias 1985 GER  2:41.07
 46 21 192932FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA  2:41.09
 47 38 530874GANONG Travis 1988 USA  2:41.25
 48 48 294911PATSCHEIDER Hagen 1988 ITA  2:41.84
 49 55 910004DEFLORIAN Mirko 1980 MDA  2:41.88
 50 35 510993ALBRECHT Daniel 1983 SUI  2:42.16
 51 60 291034PLANK Andy 1989 ITA  2:42.18
 52 75 20267ESTEVE RIGAIL Kevin 1989 AND  2:42.49
 53 66 53853SIEBER Bjoern 1989 AUT  2:42.79
 54 65 192504MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  2:42.81
 55 72 491151DE LA CUESTA Paul 1988 SPA  2:43.12
 56 53 534939FISHER Erik 1985 USA  2:44.09
 57 69 102403SEMPLE Ryan 1982 CAN  2:44.13
 58 68 491129TERRA Ferran 1987 SPA  2:44.76
 59 73 20174VIDOSA Roger 1984 AND  2:45.32
 60 74 534959JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA  2:46.13
 61 70 380298SIROKI Tin 1987 CRO  2:46.16
 62 79 60159VAN BUYNDER Frederik 1988 BEL  2:46.74
 63 61 930024MAPLE Wiley 1990 USA  2:47.25
 64 77 150495VRABLIK Martin 1982 CZE  2:49.11
 65 76 430429BYDLINSKI Maciej 1988 POL  2:49.69
 66 78 430472KLUSAK Michal 1990 POL  2:53.31
 67 16 292455FILL Peter 1982 ITA  5:09.81
 68 59 103656HALBERT Kelby 1990 CAN  7:10.38
 69 51 180570ROMAR Andreas 1989 FIN  7:16.58
 70 64 511352VILETTA Sandro 1986 SUI  8:11.72
Did not start 1st run
  71 150644KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE  
  30 511139KUENG Patrick 1984 SUI  
  26 102961DIXON Robbie 1985 CAN  
Did not finish 1st run
  63 100558COOK Dustin 1989 CAN  
  62 51007SCHOERGHOFER Philipp 1983 AUT  
  58 193232GELLOZ Sylvain 1986 FRA  
  56 421400MYHRE Lars Elton 1984 NOR  
  50 380292ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO  
  15 560447SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO 

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”

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