Are: Svindal gets SG title as Heel wins

Hermann Maier came into the final race of the season leading the super G standings. He wound up fourth.

Winning the last super G at World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden Thursday was Italian Werner Heel who started 20th. In second, though, was the 21st starter and Wednesday’s downhill winner Aksel Svindal. Christof Innerhofer was third and Benjamin Raich fourth.

Svindal, thanks to his early season outburst in Beaver Creek had a win to his super G credit and added seconds here and at the previous of the five held this season to outscore Heel’s two wins – he also won Val Gardena in December – got the title, his second in the discipline having also won in 2006.Hermann Maier came into the final race of the season leading the super G standings. He wound up fourth.

Winning the last super G at World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden Thursday was Italian Werner Heel who started 20th. In second, though, was Wednesday’s downhill winner Aksel Svindal, the 21st starter. Christof Innerhofer was third and Benjamin Raich fourth.

Svindal, thanks to his early season outburst in Beaver Creek had a win to his super G credit and added seconds here and at the previous of the five held this season to outscore Heel’s two wins – he also won Val Gardena in December – got the title, his second in the discipline having also won in 2006.

That is only half the story, though, for the overall title, the big Crystal Globe is still a huge question. Svindal took the lead of that fight after the downhill win, and fully expected to expand it with some super G success. With Raich – a celebrated GS and slalom skier – so close behind in super G Svindal knows the 102pt margin he now holds will be severely tested in the final two events of the World Cup season, a GS and slalom.

Svindal did break the 1,000 point mark slipping over to 1009 while Raich pushed to 907. Didier Cuche just hung on for points finishing 15th, the last scoring slot at Finals. He holds third overall at 859. For the second straight day a game Ivica Kostelic failed to gain a point and sits fourth at 837. “Today,” said Cuche, “a dream escaped.”

Maier, after an error high on the course, finished 17th and saw a record sixth World Cup super G title evaporate. “I had big ambitions,” Maier told DPA, “but made a big mistake and lost a lot of speed.”

For Svindal the podium placing, his sixth of the season, made for the perfect home remedy for a nasty cold. “I slept bad and had a high fever,” he told AP writer Stephan Nasstrom in the finish. He felt much better after securing the super G title.

“Things look good if I can secure this lead after the GS,” he told reporters. Raich agreed, but is not ready to concede anything.

“Aksel is the top favorite,” he said. “I have a chance, but it will be tough.”

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The SCOOP

Equipment
Men’s super G, Are, Sweden, March 12, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Heel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Fill, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Janka, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
9 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Gruenenfelder, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic

Men’s super G, Are, Sweden, March 12, 2009. … It is the 34th race of the men’s 2009 World Cup schedule with two races remaining. … It is the second of four men’s races at the Are World Cup Finals and the last of the “speed” races. … It is the fifth men’s super G of the season, a sixth was canceled last week at Kvitfjell.

It is the third career World Cup win for Werner Heel. … His second in SG. … He has just four podium results, three of them wins. … It is his second win of the season, the previous coming in SG at Val Gardena Dec. 19. … It is the sixth World Cup win of the season for Italy. … Heel is the lone Italian skier to win more than one.

It is the 23rd career World Cup podium for Aksel Svindal. … His seventh in SG. … It is his seventh Cup podium of the season (he also won a gold and bronze medal at World Championships) his fourth in World Cup SG. … Kjetil Jansrud’s third place finish in GS at Adelboden is the lone Norwegian podium this season that was not produced by Svindal. …

Including the win in DH yesterday and today’s second in SG, Svindal has four Cup podiums at Are (won DH and third SG in 2006) plus two wins (DH and GS) at the 2007 World Championships at Are.

It is the third career World Cup podium for Christof Innerhofer, all of them coming this season and all in different disciplines. … It is his first Cup podium outside of Italy… He won the Bormio DH Dec. 28 and was third in combined at Sestriere Feb. 22.

It is the 39th career World Cup top 10 for Erik Guay. … His tenth of the season. … It is his third best SG result of the season having twice placed seventh (Lake Louise and Val Gardena). … It is the second best SG result of Ted Ligety’s career. … He was seventh at Beaver Creek Dec. 6. … It is his 11th best result of the season. … John Kucera and Marco Sullivan finished 27th and 28th respectively both well off the pace to gain points.

Svindal extends his lead for the overall World Cup title 1009-907 over Raich. … Didier Cuche (15th in race) is third with 859 and Ivica Kostelic fourth at 837. With two races remaining all four are mathematically in contention. … The top American on the overall list is Ted Ligety  (13th in race) in 12th with 521. … He passed the idle Bode Miller with his result.

Svindal takes the World Cup super G crown 292-256 over Heel. … Didier Defago (eighth in race) finishes third at 242 and Hermann Maier, the SG leader entering the race finishes fourth at 231. He was 17th in the race. … Top American in the final SG standings is Marco Sullivan (26th in race) in 13th place with 114pts.

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Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	20	292514	HEEL Werner	1982	ITA	1:13.41	0.00
2	21	421328	SVINDAL Aksel Lund	1982	NOR	1:13.48	1.01
3	15	293006	INNERHOFER Christof	1984	ITA	1:13.61	2.89
4	7	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	1:13.62	3.03
5	10	292455	FILL Peter	1982	ITA	1:14.15	10.69
6	23	511313	JANKA Carlo	1986	SUI	1:14.20	11.41
7	12	50041	WALCHHOFER Michael	1975	AUT	1:14.26	12.27
8	17	510727	DEFAGO Didier	1977	SUI	1:14.27	12.42
9	9	102263	GUAY Erik	1981	CAN	1:14.33	13.28
10	14	510747	GRUENENFELDER Tobias	1977	SUI	1:14.37	13.86
11	6	50600	GOERGL Stephan	1978	AUT	1:14.41	14.44
12	5	50742	REICHELT Hannes	1980	AUT	1:14.56	16.61
13	29	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	1:14.58	16.89
13	1	350032	BUECHEL Marco	1971	LIE	1:14.58	16.89
15	22	510030	CUCHE Didier	1974	SUI	1:14.61	17.33
16	28	51215	BAUMANN Romed	1986	AUT	1:14.62	17.47
17	18	50423	MAIER Hermann	1972	AUT	1:14.66	18.05
18	3	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	1:14.71	18.77
19	26	560332	JERMAN Andrej	1978	SLO	1:14.89	21.37
20	13	500150	JAERBYN Patrik	1969	SWE	1:15.26	26.71
21	2	50858	STREITBERGER Georg	1981	AUT	1:15.36	28.16
22	11	510767	HOFFMANN Ambrosi	1977	SUI	1:15.42	29.02
23	27	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	1:15.58	31.33
24	30	292491	MOELGG Manfred	1982	ITA	1:15.59	31.48
25	4	290998	STAUDACHER Patrick	1980	ITA	1:15.61	31.77
26	24	53831	HIRSCHER Marcel	1989	AUT	1:15.66	32.49
27	16	102873	KUCERA John	1984	CAN	1:15.75	33.79
28	8	533131	SULLIVAN Marco	1980	USA	1:16.32	42.02
Did not finish 1st run
	25	191459	LIZEROUX Julien	1979	FRA
	19	50753	KROELL Klaus	1980	AUT