Ivica Kostelic’s super G race at Kitzbuehel Friday (Jan. 21) is going to change some opinions. The World Cup overall leader has not been known for his prowess in the faster disciplines, but Friday on a course some might describe as gnarly he claimed his first super G victory in a long career full of slalom (11) and combined (3) wins.

It was a reasonably masterful handling of a tough course and a narrow win over Austria Georg Steitberger (.23) and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal (.28) and cements the Croat as the favorite for the World Cup overall title. He now leads Svindal 826-571 and has beaten Svindal in the Norwegian’s most prolific discipline.

Moreover, Kostelic said, he didn’t believe he had executed a particularly good run. He said visibility had been good for his run but that he did not ski a traverse “at optimum efficiency” and got shot out with a less than stellar line. While not perfect, his run was enough for his fifth win of the season and fourth for January. He won two of three races at Wengen last week and has the first of four in his pocket for Kitzbuehel. “The more you win, the more you win.” he said rather cryptically to reporters.

Bode Miller held onto a top ten placing and Canada’s defending super G champ Erik Guay returned from a sore back to place 11th.

“I made some pretty big mistakes up top,” said Miller, “and definitely could have skied that better, but I charged the bottom, basically tucking the whole thing. If I had one more run on that I know where I could make up at least .8, but unfortunately you can’t do that in super G.”

Said Guay, “Not a bad return, I would say. Certain sections were better than others and I had a hard time finding my rhythm. But I got some points and that’s all that counts.”

He added he had been “pretty tentative at the top. … Realistically I’m just looking to get back in the blocks.”

The Austrian squad appeared to be reeling from the severe injury sustained by teammate Hans Grugger in downhill training Thursday as three of the top team contenders, Klaus Kroell, Michael Walchhofer and Benjamin Raich all failed to finish.

Grugger languished in the University of Innsbruck hospital in an induced coma Friday following emergency surgery Thursday. Doctors had stabilized his condition but are unable to predict how, or even if he will recover.

The Americans could have used a bit of luck. The race featured a new, and higher start than previous Kitzbuehel super G’s and both Miller and Ted Ligety made big mistakes up there. Steven Nyman skied out before making the second timer and Travis Ganong had to pull off when he lost his goggles.

U.S. coach Sasha Rearick summarized the performance of the winners and his charges: “Kostelic showed another level of skiing today,” Rearick said, “which is pretty impressive.”

“Bode showed us the inspirational skiing that he can do. I’m so excited, I’m so proud of him to pull that out here,” the coach said. “I’m especially stoked on what he did from the Hausberg down, it was dark when he ran, and he stuck his nose in there and stuck to the plan and showed us that he wants to go fast.”

He said Ligety had made some mistakes, but nailed the section they had worked on. “Coming off the side hill there where typically he throws the brakes on, he totally executed what we talked about it. Maybe a little too much.”

Rearick also said Ganong was skiing well, particularly for one with virtually no experience on the course, but said he had no choice but to pull off once he lost his goggles. “His eyes got blurry and he couldn’t see anything more.”

“That was sketchy,” said Ganong. “My goggles flew off when I hit a gate. Oh well, tomorrow is the big day.”

Racing continues with the Hahenkamm Downhill at Kitzbuehel on Saturday.

Gepa photos

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Men’s World Cup super G, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 21, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2 Streitberger, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Svindal, Head/Head/Head
4 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
5 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
6 Zurbriggen, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7 Theaux, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Gruenenfelder, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
9 Reichelt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Miller, Head/Head/Head

Men’s World Cup super G, Kitzbuehel, Austria, Jan. 21, 2011. … It is the first race of the 71st Hahenkamm. … It is the 21st race of the men’s 39 race World Cup schedule, the 19th held. … It is the fourth of seven scheduled super G’s. … It is the 120th Cup race hosted (at least in part) at Kitzbuehel and the 12th super G.

It is the 16th career World Cup win for Ivica Kostelic (including the parallel city event) and the fifth this January. … It is his first win in super G (or any speed event). … Of his 16 wins four have come in December and 10 in January and two in other months.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Georg Streitberger, all in super G. … He also podiumed (3rd) in the Kitzbuhel SG last season and he won at Beaver Creek in December and at Kvitfjell last March.

It is the 34th career World Cup podium for Aksel Lund Svindal. … his 11th in SG. … and 2nd in SG at Kitzbuhel having placed 2nd in 2009. … It is his fifth podium of the season and first in SG, giving him podiums in four disciplines.

It is the 142nd World Cup top 10 result for Bode Miller. … his 21st in SG. … It is his sixth top 10 of the season. … It is his 14th top 10 scored at Kitzbuehel. … It is the 53rd top 11 result for Erik Guay and his first completed race since Val Gardena’s DH Dec. 18. … It is the tenth SG scoring result for Ted Ligety and second this season. … It is the 60th career Cup score for Manuel Osborne-Paradis.

Kostelic extends his lead of the World Cup overall standings to 826-571 over Svindal. … Silvan Zurbriggen (6th in race) is third overall with 509pts. … Ted Ligety (22nd in race) is the top U.S. skier on the overall list in 10th with 418pts. … Guay (11th in race) is the top Canadian in 32nd with 130pts. … Streitberger leads the super G standings 227-179 over Didier Cuche (4th in race). … Romed Baumann (5th in race) is third in SG with 163pts…. Guay is the top Canadian in 13th with 101pts and Bode Miller the top U.S. skier in 19th with 63pts. … Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup standings 3230-2091 over Switzerland with France third at 1509. … The U.S. is seventh with 841pts and Canada ninth with 743pts.