Kilde, Bennett and Odermatt Val Gardena/Gröden GEPA pictures/Harald Steiner

Stifel U.S. Ski Team’s 31-year-old 6′ 7″ Bryce Bennett wins his career second Saslong World Cup downhill. Skiing with bib 34 and taking advantage of the improving light, the 2021 Val Gardena/Gröden champion does it again. He carried fantastic speed into and through the final sector and crossed the finish (-0.03) faster than the reigning World Cup downhill champion, Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. He stands atop a podium separated by only five one-hundredths of a second. Bennett was delighted and surprised at the finish and expressed it clearly. For the first time in his career, Bennett will wear the season’s discipline leader’s bib during Sunday’s Saslong downhill, scheduled to be contested from the longer top start.

Bennett reacts in an interview

After the race, Bennett said, “I didn’t expect that. I woke up this morning, and I had to let (go of) all the doubt that’s been following me; I think this prep period and the first couple of training runs in Beaver Creek, too, so I was like, I need to ski free and do a run that I know I’m capable of and trust myself and yeah, it worked. It was quite a surprise to land and see green at the finish, but that feels good.”

He explained some differences from his first Saslong victory two seasons ago. Bennett said, “The main difference is the last time I won was a complete surprise. I was three seconds out training every day, all summer long and this season, I really want to move it forward. I want to move it forward to Bormio, Wengen and to Kitzbühel, to Chamonix, and just really have competitive runs all season long. If I get the downhill globe, you’ll never see me ever again. I am boots off in the finish, on a plane, fishing boat in Mexico.”

Bennett’s ski technician is Leo Mussi, who also used to work with three-time winner USA’s Steven Nyman and four-time Saslong downhill winner Italian Kristian Ghedina before that.

The Kilde vs Odermatt drama continues

The 2023-24 downhill season starts with another familiar drama. Established superstars fought for victory, and the older veteran Kilde proved he was ready to defend his downhill throne. He finishes 2nd (-0.02) ahead of 3rd place Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt. Both men pushed the limits of what was possible. Kilde and Odermatt used superior skiing through the difficult Ciaslat section to earn their podiums.

To stand on a World Cup downhill podium, athletes must push to the edge of their ability; Bennett, Odermatt, and Kilde did just that. The roller coaster of terrain that defines the Sasalong didn’t disappoint. The three fastest seemed to be in the air as much as they were on the snow.

When the sun finally comes around the Saslong mountain, it provides better visibility to the difficult Ciaslat section, and it is not uncommon to see fast times from the later starters. Today, the talented French skier Nils Allegre took advantage and skied with bib 25 to a career-best World Cup result 4th place. It represented only his 9th career top 10.

Other North American success

Canadian James “Jack” Crawford continues to show he will compete for World Cup victories and finishes 5th (+0.32). Like Odermatt, Crawford has shown an extremely high skill level in three events: downhill, super-G, and giant slalom. Crawford was the most successful North American male of the 2022-23 season and is hinting that his position among the elite will continue.

Canadian Cameron Alexander, 10th (+0.48), was the first male downhill racer to cross a 2023-24 World Cup speed event finish. At that moment, the long-awaited downhill season officially began. His time on the preplanned shortened Saslong course was 1:24.28. Alexander held the early lead until bib 6 Odermatt was (-0.43) faster.

Super-G Olympic silver medalist Stifel U.S. Ski Team’s bib 2 Ryan Cochran-Siegle was among the early leaders. He ended the day 14th (+0.56). He was joined in the top thirty by his teammate Jared Goldberg, 19th (+0.67), and Canadian Jeffrey Read, 22nd (+0.77). Six North Americans skied fast enough to score World Cup points in the 2023-24 season-opening downhill.

Cochran-Siegle said, “Feeling like I had a good approach mentally skied it with a good amount of flow and just aggression and focusing on those things that I do well. Super tight race, but happy with being able to feel like I pushed in a race. So hopefully, this gives me some confidence just to keep focusing on what I know works and try to build from here.”

The six other North Americans to race will have to wait until tomorrow’s super-G to start their 2023-24-point tallies.

Because the light improves throughout the race on the problematic Ciaslat section, high bibs are expected to do well in Val Gardena/Gröden. Today, nine racers with bibs above 30 scored. The last to do so was bib 63 Czech Republic’s Jan Zabystran 20th (+0.70). The time differential between the first and 30th place racers was a mere (+0.98).

Finally, a men’s World Cup speed event

Mother Nature finally decided it was time to have the season’s first Men’s World Cup speed event. Although the men raced the Sasalong course in Val Gardena/Gröden, today’s downhill is a Zermatt-Cervinia replacement race and started from the traditional super-G start.

With the shortened course, the times were close, and the athletes seemed to have full power through the finish.

Tomorrow, Friday the 15th of December, the men will race the first super-G of the season.

Top 30 results and analysis of the fastest three and top 30 North Americans

Analysis of the fastest three and top 30 North Americans