GEPA pictures/Thomas Bachun

Austrians dominate the podium and four North Americans are among the top 10

The winner of the first men’s super-G of the 2023-24 season is Austrian star Vincent Kriechmayr. Kriechmayr used high-speed skiing in sections one and three to finish a mere (-0.02) faster than his teammate Daniel Hemetsberger. The 2021 World Champion wins his eighth World Cup super-G of his career. Both Austrian men are 32, but today’s outcome represents Hemetsberger’s second super-G podium. The Austrians are joined on the podium by last season’s super-G champion, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt. Even tighter than yesterday, the top three are separated by only three one-hundredths of a second.

“I tried to give 100% every gate,” Kriechmayr said. “The run was pretty good. I’m proud of it.”

“Today it looks much better than yesterday,” Hemetsberger said, referring to how only one Austrian — Stefan Babinsky in sixth — placed in the top 15 of the downhill won by Stifel US Ski Team’s Bryce Bennet on Thursday.

Immediately after the injury break, bib 27 Frances Cyprien Sarrazin excited the crowd by taking advantage of the improving light to ski into 4th place (+0.12). But just (+0.13) behind the winner was another Austrian, Marco Schwarz, 5th.

As expected, Odermatt skied well but lost time (+0.23) to the winner in the third sector. Ultimately, he reported that the course was much easier than expected and that he over-skied that section. However, his skiing in the race revealed he is prepared to defend his 2023 season super-G title.

Kilde fails to make the top 30

Almost remarkably, Norwegian superstar Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, 37th place, will score no points in the first super-G of the season. Although the course was undoubtedly set in his favor, he finished well outside the top 30.

After the race, Kilde said, “I was a little too keen today. I wanted it too much. I went a little too hard, and that’s not how to do it when it’s easy like this,” Kilde said.

The course, set by a French coach, was relatively straight. That meant that racers often accelerated to more than 110 kph (68 mph) — not much slower than the downhill speeds at the same Saslong venue. The conditions were virtually perfect.

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North Americans perform

Once again, the North American men produced solid performances. James “Jack” Crawford continues to threaten the podium finishing 6th (+0.15). Also, his teammates Cameron Alexander and Jeffrey Read had the leaders in the finish observing their performances. Bib 63 Alexander finishes the day just behind Crawford in 7th (+0.28) and Read finished tied 10th (+0.39). Matching Read was the best of a Stifel U.S. Ski Team member. In bib 46, Jared Goldberg ends in a 10th-place three-way tie with Read and Italian Guglielmo Bosca. It is reason to celebrate as it represents Goldberg’s first career top ten super-G result. Three North Americans among the top 10 is an excellent start to the season. However, yesterday’s winner, bib 62 USA’s Bryce Bennett, joined the elite skier party finishing 14th (+0.41).

Goldberg reported, “I feel really good because I skied how I wanted to and I just was locked into the front of the boot and had a lot of control over where I was going, and that’s just what I’ve been looking for a while.” He added, “Today I was better, with a more chill mindset, and I was just skiing for fun.

Also among the top 30 was bib 41 Kyle Negomir. Negomir used fast skiing in the first and final sectors to finish in the 24th. While he looked disappointed in the finish, the skiing was first-class, giving him positive momentum after the first super-G to start the season. His teammate Sam Morse ends his day with his first-ever World Cup super-G points. Morse finishes the day 30th (+0.93) and will start his season with a single point. Your first point in any event is a beautiful reason to celebrate.

Four Stifel US Ski Team members and three Alpine Canada Alpin teammates scored in the super-G season opener.

The other six North Americans could ski fast enough to finish inside the top 30.

Unfortunately, it was not a perfect day for Austria. Bib 26 Andreas Ploier straddled, fell in the final sector, and had to be evacuated from the venue. However, the first reports from the clinic were that the injury was not as severe as initially suspected.

Great day of racing

Surprisingly, the top 30 were only separated by (+0.93), the top ten by (+0.39), and the top three by (+0.03).)

Notably, the first to complete a men’s World Cup super-G run of the 20223-24 season was France’s Matthieu Bailet. Once again, Mother Nature cooperated, and Val Gardena/Gröden delivered a perfect race day and excitement to the end of the competition.

Fourteen men with bibs above 30 could ski well enough to finish among the fastest 30.

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

Analysis of the fastest three and top 30 North Americans