Slovenia, and Yugoslavia before her, have not had many downhill champions. Tuesday, at Bormio Italy, Andrej Jerman boosted his national status to icon level becoming the first Slovene ever to win a second World Cup downhill. He had already been a national hero for being the only man to win one.

With an early bib number (5) and a confidence boosting training run win in his pocket, Jerman arced a workman-like path down the straight-forward Stelvio track then stood back and watched as the very best of the World Cup tried unsuccessfully to match his time. One by one they failed, often dropping back by the second interval timer despite having what the first interval said were faster skis.

Winless Mario Scheiber, the first man out of the start chute, appeared to score his seventh career second place finish, and second in two straight downhills but was disqualifed for a boot infraction, reportedly a binding plate measuring two millimeters high. That moved Swiss Didier Defago up to second and gave a podium to Austrian star Michael Walchhofer. Downhill standings leader Didier Cuche finished fifth.

Not many felt comfortable on the icy Stelvio track despite a line-of-sight that provided a view of the finish from well up the hill. Defago won two downhills last January and said he was just trying to confirm good training results with a strong placing. “Unfortunately,” he said, the same was true for Jerman.

North Americans had been brushed off the list of top ten finishers completely but the Scheiber DQ gave Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis tenth. Robbie Dixon added 12th.  Steven Nyman led the U.S. in 16th. Marco Sullivan salvaged a a few points in 28th.

For Nyman the race was a bit of a breakthrough after coming off double knee surgery this summer.

“It’s a confidence builder for me,” he said, “because I haven’t had the prep period.” He said, “I had a couple of mistakes, but I just kept things running. … It’s my best result here, so I’m happy with that.”

Coach Sasha Rearick called Nyman’s effort “a step in the right direction,” adding that he’s been getting stronger race by race. “It’s a move toward where he wants to be.”

The U.S. team also had Erik Fisher sliding off course and Scott Macartney resting a sore back.

Dixon said he was happy with this skiing, “especially after that dirty fall I had in Alta Badia. I was pretty bruised and had a sore ankle so to carry the confidence and the success from this year into a very challenging course felt good,” he said.

Jerman photo by GEPA

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men’s Downhill, Bormio, Italy, Dec. 29, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
2 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Poisson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
6 Buechel, Head/Lange/Head
7 Gruenenfelder, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
8 Kroell, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Grugger, Head/Head/Head
10 Osborne-Paradis, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

Men’s Downhill, Bormio, Italy, Dec. 29, 2009. … It is the 15th race of the men’s 35 race 2009-2010 World Cup schedule. … The fourth of eight scheduled downhills. … It is the 50th World Cup held at Bormio. … The 21st downhill. … the 19th for men. … The 16th held immediately prior to the start of the New Year. … The site also hosted two World Championships (’85 and ’05).

It is the second career World Cup win for Andrej Jerman, both coming in downhill, the previous at Garmisch Feb. 23, 2007. … It is the third Slovene DH win, the other coming from Tina Maze at St Moritz Feb. 2, 2008. … It is the 30th Slovene World Cup win. … It is the second Slovene win at Bormio, the previous from Spela Pretnar in GS in 1995. …  Jerman has now recorded four top 10 finishes in DH at Bormio and is the only Slovene to own any. … He had been fourth and ninth in Dec. 2006, fifth in 2007.

It is the 13th career World Cup podium for Didier Defago. … He won two downhills back-to-back last January, and this is his next best DH finish. … He has now been second in seven World Cup races. … twice at Bormio, the previous coming in super G at the end of the 2008 season.

It is the 43rd career World Cup podium for Michael Walchhofer. … His 32nd in DH. … It is his sixth World Cup podium at Bormio. … He also finished third a year and a day previous in DH. … It is his third podium of the season but first in DH, the others coming in super G at Lake Louise and Val d’Isere.

It is the 16th career World Cup top 10 for Manuel Osborne-Paradis. … All but one of those in DH. … It is a career best result at Bormio in a World Cup race. … It is this third top 10 of the season with the other two being wins in SG at Lake Louise and DH at Val Gardena. … It is the ninth time Robbie Dixon has finished among the first dozen of a World Cup race and the first time at Bormio. … Five of his seven placings this season have been 12th or better. … It is the 20th best of 39 World Cup scoring results for Steven Nyman and represents his best Bormio performance. … It is his best result of the season and second in consecutive downhills. … It is the 46th career World Cup scoring result for Marco Sullivan. … his sixth at Bormio. … It is his fifth score of the season.

Carlo Janka (11th in race) regains the World Cup overall standings lead 577-566 over Benjamin Raich (did not race). … Didier Cuche (fifth in race) is third at 481. … Ted Ligety (did not race) is the top North American in seventh with 317. … Osborne-Paradis is eighth with 268. … Half way through the downhill schedule Cuche leads the standings 251-200 over Walchhofer. … Janka is third with 184 and Osborne-Paradis fourth at 144. … Bode Miller (did not race) is the top American in the downhill standings ranked 14th with 81pts. … The Austrian men lead the Nations Cup 2365-2157 over Switzerland. … Canada is fifth, one point ahead of the U.S. 817-816.