Fill, Jansrud, and Kilde trade blows in Kvitfjell downhill training

By Published On: March 11th, 2016Comments Off on Fill, Jansrud, and Kilde trade blows in Kvitfjell downhill training

In the two downhill training runs in Kvitfjell, Norway, on Thursday and Friday, the same three racers – Italy’s Peter Fill and Norwegians Kjetil Jansrud and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde – dominated the podium heading into Saturday’s penultimate downhill of the World Cup season.

On Thursday, Fill set the pace with a time of 1:46.35 seconds, 0.55 seconds ahead of Kilde in second and 0.63 seconds ahead of Jansrud in third.

“I had a good feeling and hit the line pretty well apart from that little mistake at the entrance of the flat, so I have more potential for tomorrow,” Fill explained. “But my time is for sure not the winning time on Saturday, the others are going to study the lines and be much faster. The conditions are great, it’s the first time that the snow is so consitent from top to bottom. The speed is not very high, because the snow is not very fast but it’s nice to ski.”

Steven Nyman led the way for the Americans on Thursday, finishing in fifth, 0.75 seconds off of Fill’s pace.

In Friday’s training, morning fog forced several delays and the eventual lowering of the start. Using the reserve start, Jansrud made the right adjustments and walked away with with the fastest time in 1:28.52 seconds. Fill managed the second fastest time, 0.52 seconds back and Kilde was third, 0.57 seconds off of the pace.

“Yesterday, I had a few tactical mistakes in my run,“ said Jansrud. “Today, I had no bigger issue and my run went smoothly. I was happy that it turned out to be fast as well. Let’s hope that the conditions and the weather are good tomorrow.”

Fill and Jansrud are locked in an intense battle for the downhill title. With Aksel Lund Svindal out for the season, Fill is the de facto leader in the standings, with Jansrud 73 points behind. The stage is now set for an exciting race on Saturday, as the results could potentially determine the small crystal globe winner.

“Today was good,” said Fill. “I didn’t have a perfect run, there were some little mistakes in it. For example, I underestimated some rolls, but it looks like I’m fast again and I’m happy to be among the best skiers today, it gives me confidence for tomorrow.”

For Kilde, his two fast training runs bode well for the young Norwegian as he has already claimed two World Cup victories this season, winning the downhill in Garmisch, Germany, and the super G in Hinterstoder, Austria. Kilde also has a legitimate shot at taking the super G title after starting the season ranked well outside of the top 30 in the world.

“It was really good today,” said Kilde. “The snow was more compact than yesterday and the few soft sections are gone. It was really fun to ski. When you have that feeling under your skis, with the bumps and stuff, it’s great to ski. It’s more challenging from the top and I’ve skied it many times, so it would be an advantage for me to start at the original position.”

On Friday, Travis Ganong and Nyman finished fourth and fifth, 0.78 and 0.83 seconds back, respectively. This weekend will be Ganong’s first World Cup start since tweaking his knee in the Olympic test event downhill in Jeongseon, South Korea, last month.

In sadder news, Frenchman Guillermo Fayed suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during Friday’s training and will be out for the remainder of the season. Fayed is currently sitting in sixth in the downhill standings after finishing third in 2015.

Start time for Saturday’s downhill race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CET.


Thursday’s Official Training Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff.
 1  12  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA  1:46.35
 2  7  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  1:46.90  +0.55
 3  16  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:46.98  +0.63
 4  5  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  1:47.01  +0.66
 5  14  533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA  1:47.10  +0.75
 6  30  194542 GIRAUD MOINE Valentin 1992 FRA  1:47.18  +0.83
 7  9  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  1:47.36  +1.01
 8  18  102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN  1:47.37  +1.02
 9  27  53980 KRIECHMAYR Vincent 1991 AUT  1:47.44  +1.09
 10  4  50753 KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT  1:47.53  +1.18
 11  23  194298 GIEZENDANNER Blaise 1991 FRA  1:47.57  +1.22
 11  10  291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  1:47.57  +1.22
 13  28  561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO  1:47.58  +1.23
 14  11  192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA  1:47.62  +1.27
 15  25  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA  1:47.96  +1.61
 16  13  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:48.18  +1.83
 17  6  533131 SULLIVAN Marco 1980 USA  1:48.24  +1.89
 18  19  51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  1:48.29  +1.94
 19  45  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  1:48.34  +1.99
 20  29  200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER  1:48.35  +2.00
 21  26  511529 GISIN Marc 1988 SUI  1:48.47  +2.12
 22  22  54005 STRIEDINGER Otmar 1991 AUT  1:48.48  +2.13
 23  20  293006 INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA  1:48.60  +2.25
 24  8  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  1:48.71  +2.36
 25  2  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:48.79  +2.44
 26  39  202196 BRANDNER Klaus 1990 GER  1:48.88  +2.53
 26  32  511981 WEBER Ralph 1993 SUI  1:48.88  +2.53
 28  31  560447 SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO  1:48.96  +2.61
 29  21  191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA  1:49.00  +2.65
 30  24  191964 POISSON David 1982 FRA  1:49.04  +2.69
 31  46  380341 ULLRICH Max 1994 CRO  1:49.06  +2.71
 32  3  103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN  1:49.08  +2.73
 33  37  531452 BIESEMEYER Thomas 1989 USA  1:49.12  +2.77
 34  38  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA  1:49.13  +2.78
 35  1  292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA  1:49.14  +2.79
 36  35  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA  1:49.22  +2.87
 37  33  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO  1:49.29  +2.94
 38  41  511808 SCHMED Fernando 1991 SUI  1:49.49  +3.14
 39  17  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:49.50  +3.15
 40  34  202535 DRESSEN Thomas 1993 GER  1:49.54  +3.19
 41  42  6291029 BATTILANI Henri 1994 ITA  1:49.68  +3.33
 41  40  561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO  1:49.68  +3.33
 43  36  561255 CATER Martin 1992 SLO  1:49.97  +3.62
 44  48  170159 VORRE Marcus 1998 DAN  1:52.51  +6.16
 45  15  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT  1:57.79  +11.44
 46  44  511638 TUMLER Thomas 1989 SUI  2:08.10  +21.75
Did not start 1st run
 47  511852 CAVIEZEL Gino 1992 SUI
Did not finish 1st run
 43  110324 VON APPEN Henrik 1994 CHI

Friday’s Official Training Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff.
 1  16  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:28.52
 2  17  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA  1:29.04  +0.52
 3  8  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  1:29.09  +0.57
 4  10  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:29.30  +0.78
 5  13  533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA  1:29.35  +0.83
 6  21  291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  1:29.36  +0.84
 7  5  53980 KRIECHMAYR Vincent 1991 AUT  1:29.48  +0.96
 8  12  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  1:29.49  +0.97
 9  38  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA  1:29.53  +1.01
 10  23  194542 GIRAUD MOINE Valentin 1992 FRA  1:29.64  +1.12
 11  11  102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN  1:29.80  +1.28
 12  1  50753 KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT  1:29.86  +1.34
 13  7  51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  1:29.89  +1.37
 14  4  194298 GIEZENDANNER Blaise 1991 FRA  1:29.94  +1.42
 15  26  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  1:30.04  +1.52
 16  6  191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA  1:30.05  +1.53
 17  3  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA  1:30.09  +1.57
 18  2  191964 POISSON David 1982 FRA  1:30.24  +1.72
 19  15  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  1:30.32  +1.80
 20  29  200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER  1:30.33  +1.81
 21  9  293006 INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA  1:30.34  +1.82
 22  39  202196 BRANDNER Klaus 1990 GER  1:30.36  +1.84
 23  20  54005 STRIEDINGER Otmar 1991 AUT  1:30.39  +1.87
 24  22  103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN  1:30.59  +2.07
 25  45  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  1:30.64  +2.12
 26  27  292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA  1:30.67  +2.15
 27  24  511529 GISIN Marc 1988 SUI  1:30.70  +2.18
 28  25  533131 SULLIVAN Marco 1980 USA  1:30.80  +2.28
 29  46  380341 ULLRICH Max 1994 CRO  1:30.88  +2.36
 29  42  6291029 BATTILANI Henri 1994 ITA  1:30.88  +2.36
 31  14  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT  1:30.89  +2.37
 32  41  511808 SCHMED Fernando 1991 SUI  1:31.09  +2.57
 33  36  561255 CATER Martin 1992 SLO  1:31.19  +2.67
 34  40  561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO  1:31.20  +2.68
 35  31  560447 SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO  1:31.40  +2.88
 36  30  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:31.42  +2.90
 37  35  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA  1:31.49  +2.97
 38  37  531452 BIESEMEYER Thomas 1989 USA  1:31.55  +3.03
 39  33  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO  1:31.62  +3.10
 40  44  511638 TUMLER Thomas 1989 SUI  1:31.65  +3.13
 40  34  202535 DRESSEN Thomas 1993 GER  1:31.65  +3.13
 42  43  110324 VON APPEN Henrik 1994 CHI  1:31.78  +3.26
 43  32  511981 WEBER Ralph 1993 SUI  1:31.99  +3.47
 44  47  511852 CAVIEZEL Gino 1992 SUI  1:33.48  +4.96
 45  48  170159 VORRE Marcus 1998 DAN  1:44.33  +15.81
 46  28  561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO  1:48.10  +19.58
 47  19  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  21:37.36  +20:08.84
Did not finish 1st run
 18  192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.