Kjus edges Eberharter in Val Gardena super G; Rahlves ties for fourth

By Published On: June 3rd, 2004Comments Off on Kjus edges Eberharter in Val Gardena super G; Rahlves ties for fourth

Kjus edges Eberharter in Val Gardena super G; Rahlves ties for fourth{mosimage}Norwegian Lasse Kjus held off Austrian heavyweights Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier to claim victory in a super G at Val Gardena, Italy, on Friday.

Kjus, who will be 33 in January finished with a time of 1:36.94 down a bumpy Saslong course to claim his second World Cup super G win and first since December 1995 in Vail, Colorado.

Eberharter, looking back to full fitness after a bout of flu, was second in 1:37.04 while Maier completed the podium in 1:37.42. Daron Rahlves of the U.S. and Hans Knauss of Austria tied for fourth.

The victory is Kjus’s first in a World Cup race since a downhill in Sierra Nevada, Spain, in March 1999. His last World Cup victory came in the combined at Kitzbuehel in 2001.

Also for the U.S., Bode Miller was 17th, 1.79 seconds behind the leader, and Bryon Friedman fought his way into the points, finishing 24th from the 62nd start (out of 65).

Fourth place matches Rahlves best-ever finish in super G. He’s now been fourth four times, most recently at Kitzbuehel in January of 2002. Rahlves had just one top-10 finish all last season in super G, but already has two this season. He was 10th in the first race in the season’s first super G in Lake Louise, Alberta.

Kjus, the 1999 super G and giant slalom world champion, said his decision to attack all-out had paid off. “In Beaver Creek I was not far away from the podium but I was a chicken,” he said. “Today I was really aggressive but I still tried to keep control. It’s quite a surprise because I didn’t expect to be so fast, especially in the turns. It is great to be ahead of Maier and Eberharter who have dominated the event for so long.”

Kjus will now start as one of the favorites for Saturday’s eagerly-awaited downhill — he won a downhill on this course in 1998 — but can expect a tough challenge again from Maier and Eberharter. “I’m the youngest guy on the podium so it shows I still have a future in this sport,” joked the 31-year-old Maier who continues to impress on his return from a life-threatening motorcycle injury.

The former Olympic and world champion won a super G at Lake Louise earlier this season and finished second at Beaver Creek and although not entirely happy with his performance, a third successive podium in the event is confirmation that he is close to being back to his best. “I was too aggressive and couldn’t let the skis go out as I would have liked but I am satisfied with the result and all of the results this season in super-G,” he said.

Eberharter was pleased to have taken second spot after his recent health troubles, saying: “I am pleased. I feel my strength coming back slowly and I am happy with this. I want to give great compliments to Lasse, it is really nice to see him back skiing at the highest level.”

Australian AJ Bear was flown to hospital after falling at the second Camel Hump and early examinations indicated he had suffered an injury to his left knee.

Alpine World Cup

Men’s Downhill

Val Gardena, Italy

December 19, 2003


1. Lasse Kjus (Norway) 1:36.94

2. Stephan Eberharter (Austria) 1:37.04

3. Hermann Maier (Austria) 1:37.42

4= Hans Knauss (Austria) 1:37.78

4= Daron Rahlves (U.S.) 1:37.78

6. Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) 1:37.80

7. Didier Cuche (Switzerland) 1:37.81

8. Benjamin Raich (Austria) 1:37.85

9. Christoph Gruber (Austria) 1:37.90

10. Michael Walchhofer (Austria) 1:37.94

11. Bruno Kernen (Switzerland) 1:38.04

12. Bjarne Solbakken (Norway) 1:38.34

13. Andreas Schifferer (Austria) 1:38.43

14. Patrik Jaerbyn (Sweden) 1:38.46

15. Ambrosi Hoffmann (Switzerand) 1:38.49

16. Marco Buechel (Liechtenstein) 1:38.55

17. Bode Miller (U.S.) 1:38.73

18. Fritz Strobl (Austria) 1:38.80

19. Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin (France) 1:38.84

20. Alessandro Fattori (Italy) 1:38.87

21= Norbert Holzknecht (Austria) 1:39.02

21= Tobias Gruenenfelder (Switzerland) 1:39.02

23. Peter Fill (Italy) 1:39.10

24. Bryon Friedman (U.S.) 1:39.11

25. Paul Accola (Switzerland) 1:39.22

26= Ole Magnus Kulbeck (Norway) 1:39.39

26= Didier Defago (Switzerland) 1:39.39

28. Michael Gufler (Italy) 1:39.40

29. Vincent Lavoie (Canada) 1:39.49

30. Kenneth Sivertsen (Norway) 1:39.55.

Other North Americans:

31. Darin McBeath (Canada) 1:39.57

42. Jakub Fiala (U.S.) 1:40.22

48. Francois Bourque (Canada) 1:40.68

51. Thomas Vonn (U.S.) 1:41.89

DNS: Scott Macartney (U.S.)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Men’s Super G

Val Gardena, Italy, December 19, 2003


Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Kjus, Dynastar/Atomic/Look

2 Eberharter, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

3 Maier, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

4 Knauss, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

4 Rahlves, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

6 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

7 Cuche, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

8 Raich, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

9 Gruber, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

10 Walchhofer, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

It is the 11th of 38 scheduled men’s races and the third of seven super G’s. A relatively tight race; Lasse Kjus wins by 0.10, and the entire scoring field of 30 is within 2.61 seconds.

It’s the 15th career World Cup win for Kjus, but just his second in super G. … (He did win a share of the world title in the discipline in ’99). … His other World Cup SG win was 12/2/95 at Vail. … His last World Cup win was the Kitzbuehel combined 1/221/01, and his last race win was a DH at Sierra Nevada 3/10/99. … It’s the second straight men’s SG win for Norway after Bjarne Solbakken’s win at Beaver Creek.

The 66th career podium for Stephan Eberharter, and third this season.

… Twenty three of his podiums have come in SG. … It is the 74th career podium for

Hermann Maier, and his fourth this season. … He has 25 podiums in SG.

The 16th time Daron Rahlves has finished in the top four of a World Cup, and third time this month. … It matches his best-ever SG result; he’s now been fourth four times.

It is the fifth-best SG result for Bode Miller, and best of the

season, edging a 19th at Lake Louise. … It’s the third scoring result of Bryon Friedman’s career, all this season. … He has been either 23rd or 24th in all

three. It is the fourth scoring result of Vincent Lavoie’s career, and second of

the season.

Maier maintains his overall World Cup lead 465-358 over Hans Knauss. …

Miller is tops for the U.S. in eighth at 277. … Maier also leads the super G

standings 240-185 over Kjus. … Rahlves leads U.S. in eighth at 98.

Austria leads the Nations Cup 4774-1369 over Italy. … The U.S. is fifth at

1222. … Austrian men lead Norwegian men 3104-874. … U.S. men tied for

fourth with Swiss at 675.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh