Maier leads top-four Austrian sweep at St. Anton; Miller tops for U.S. in eighth

Maier leads top-four Austrian sweep at St. Anton; Miller tops for U.S. in eighthHermann Maier led an Austrian sweep of the top four spots in the men’s downhill Saturday at St. Anton, Austria. Bode Miller was eighth and Daron Rahlves 11th to lead the U.S.

Maier, who came away from the 2001 World Championships in St. Anton without a win despite being one of the favorites, stormed down the Karl Schranz course in 1:56.09, 0.32 seconds faster than teammate Stephan Eberharter, the runner-up.

Cheered on by an estimated 20,000 specators, World Cup rookie Johan Grugger took third (1:56.46) for his first-ever podium finish. Teammate Klaus Kroell tied for fourth with Norway’s Bjarne Solbakken (1:56.80).

Miller had his second-best downhill finish of the season; he was seventh at Kitzbuehel last month. Rahlves, who came into the race second in the downhill rankings, lost his runner-up position in the standings to Maier. Eberharter remains on top.

Miller´s choice to go out and party earlier in the week caught the notice of Austrian reporters, who wrote that he was out late at St. Anton´s bars. “I don’t care,” said Miller when asked what he thought of the scrutiny. “I don´t read any of that stuff.”

The course was soft after a week of heavy snowfall. Rahlves, who spent the week free-skiing and getting over a lingering illness, was disheartened to all but lose his shot at the World Cup downhill title. “I just want to go home, rest up, and then finish off the season with a bang,” said Rahlves.

“I felt I had a really good run,” he said, “but when I got to the finish I was surprised. I thought I’d be in there. I must’ve been losing time all the way down. This is a race I really needed today but I congratulate Hermann and Stephan on great races.”

Also for the U.S., Bryon Friedman was 21st and Jakub Fiala 31st. Ten of the 46 starters failed to finish the course.

Maier took over the lead in the overall World Cup standings from teammate Benjamin Raich, who didn’t get a start in the St. Anton downhill. His Austrian teammates took care of business, however, with the top four finishes and seven of the top nine.

“I won today the race I lost three years ago,” a jubilant Maier said in the finish area after collecting his 46th win, making him the third most prolific winner in World Cup history. “I really didn’t think I’d win it because I made too many mistakes, but I guess the others made even more.”

Grugger, 22, got his first podium in just his 14th World Cup start. He had four previous top-10 finishes. Teammate Kroell, 23, had the third fourth-place finish of his brief World Cup career. His only podium came at the downhill in Val d’Isere, France, last season.

The awards ceremony was delayed for 20 minutes while the race jury reviewed video of Didier Cuche’s run. The Swiss veteran slammed a gate panel and it was unclear whether he straddled. The jury ultimately decided he had completed the course, and Cuche limped onto the top-10 awards stage with a large bruise on his shin. “He’s okay,” said Swiss coach Patrice Morisod. “He will need only four or five days off.”

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Downhill

St. Anton, Austria

February 14, 2004

1. Hermann Maier (Austria) 1:56.09

2. Stephan Eberharter (Austria) 1:56.41

3. Johann Grugger (Austria) 1:56.46

4= Klaus Kroell (Austria) 1:56.80

4= Bjarne Solbakken (Norway) 1:56.80

6= Michael Walchhofer (Austria) 1:56.83

6= Hans Knauss (Austria) 1:56.83

8. Bode Miller (U.S.) 1:56.89

9. Fritz Strobl (Austria) 1:56.91

10. Didier Cuche (Switzerland) 1:56.92

11. Daron Rahlves (U.S.) 1:56.96

12. Patrik Jaerbyn (Sweden) 1:57.03

13. Ambrosi Hoffmann (Switzerland) 1:57.14

14. Christoph Gruber (Austria) 1:57.16

15. Antoine Deneriaz (France) 1:57.29

16. Florian Eckert (Germany) 1:57.30

17. Didier Defago (Switzerland) 1:57.40

18. Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) 1:57.43

19. Alessandro Fattori (Italy) 1:57.53

20. Roland Fischnaller (Italy) 1:57.88

21. Bryon Friedman (U.S.) 1:58.02

22= Peter Fill (Italy) 1:58.03

22= Yannick Bertrand (France) 1:58.03

24. Patrick Staudacher (Italy) 1:58.31

25. Tobias Gruenenfelder (Switzerland) 1:58.49

26. Rolf Von Weissenfluh (Switzerland) 1:58.74

27. Kristian Ghedina (Italy) 1:58.79

28. Erik Seletto (Italy) 1:58.87

29. David Poisson (France) 1:59.07

30. Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin (France) 1:59.09

Other North Americans:

31. Jakub Fiala (U.S.) 1:59.42

DNF: David Anderson, Vincent Lavoie (Canada)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Downhill

St. Anton, Austria, February 14, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Maier, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

2 Eberharter, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

3 Grugger, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

4 Kroell, Head/Tecnica/Tyrolia

4 Solbakken, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

6 Walchhofer, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

6 Knauss, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Miller, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol

9 Strobl, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

10 Cuche, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

It’s the 29th of 38 scheduled men’s races and the 10th of 12 scheduled DH’s. … It’s the 21st victory of the season for Atomic skis. … Atomic has won nine of the 10 men’s DH’s. … It’s the first major race held on the full length of the Karl Schranz DH course, built for the 2001 world championships in St. Anton. … Hermann Maier wins by a third of a second. … Austrians sweep the podium.

It’s the 46th career victory for Hermann Maier. … That ties him with Marc Girardelli for the third most wins by a male behind Ingemar Stenmark’s 86 and Alberto Tomba’s 50. … It’s Maier’s 13th DH win. … It’s his fourth win of the season, second in DH. … In seven men’s World Cup DH’s held at St. Anton, Maier is the fourth Austrian to win.

It’s the 72nd career World Cup podium for Stephan Eberharter and 36th in DH. … It’s his ninth podium of the season, sixth in DH. … It’s a career-first podium for Johann Grugger. … He has been seventh three times. … A World Cup rookie, he’s had nine previous scoring finishes this season, all in DH and SG.

It’s the fifth best World Cup DH result ever for Bode Miller. … It’s his second top 10 in DH this season, after a seventh at Kitzbuehel … He trails Maier by 170 points with two DH’s, 2 GS’s, 2 SG’s and 3 SL’s remaining to contest. … It’s the 10th top-11 finish for Daron Rahlves this season. … It’s the 10th World Cup scoring finish — career and season — for Bryon Friedman.

Maier regains the World Cup overall lead 1054-985 over Benjamin Raich. … Eberharter is third at 961 and Miller fourth at 884. … Rahlves is seventh at 720. … Eberharter leads the DH standings 671-508 over Maier with Rahlves third at 477. … The Austrians lead the Nations Cup 13701-3956 over Italy. … The U.S. is fourth, 15 points behind the Swiss. … The Austrians lead the men’s standings 8563-2434 over Italy. … U.S. men are fifth behind Switzerland and Norway.