Kriechmayr wins classic downhill in Kitzbühel; Goldberg 4th

KITZBUEHEL,AUSTRIA,20.JAN.23. Vincent Kriechmayr with his team.
Photo: GEPA pictures

KITZBÜHEL, Austria — Vincent Kriechmayr won the first of the two Kitzbühel Streif downhills, while fellow pre-race favorites Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt only narrowly avoided high-speed crashes.

The Kitzbühel Strief never fails to be exciting. The first of two downhills on the Hahnenkamm brought a significant surprise when Swiss overall leader Marco Odermatt and Norwegian downhill leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde made near-disastrous mistakes.

Kriechmayr wins again

“The Streif is a myth, a legend. For an Austrian downhiller the most important race,” said Kriechmayr, who also won two downhills in Italy in December. “To win in Kitzbuehel, it’s just amazing. It’s the most important World Cup race of the season. I tried, I tried everything. I pushed. It was not a perfect run but it was totally on the limit.”

“That was close, really close, almost too close,” Kilde said. “It really happened so quickly. When I landed, I collapsed a little bit, and everything happens so fast. It’s Kitzbühel, it’s how it is.”

Odermatt on the Steilhang and Kilde on the traverse nearly crashed and only their superior athleticism kept them on their feet. However, the Austrian fans will celebrate well into the night with their home country winner Vincent Kriechmayr. To the crowd’s delight, he used incredibly fast splits in sectors two and seven to win his third downhill of the season.

Kriechmayr mastered the demanding course in cloudy conditions and the world champion from Austria sped to his third win of the season and 15th of his career.

“I have been really fighting. If you look at the results from previous years, I was not the favorite,” Kriechmayr told Austrian broadcaster ORF. “But I wanted to do things better this time. I took a lot of risks. I was not without mistakes but the risks paid off.”

Italian surprise

One of the day’s biggest surprises is bib 43 Italian Florian Schieder. With great skiing, Schieder took advantage of improving light and finished the day in second. Even Schieder couldn’t believe his eyes and screamed with joy at the finish. It is not only his first podium. It is his first top 10. Achieving such a high performance on the sport’s biggest stage makes his result that much more impressive.

“The light had certainly improved, but I used it well,” said Schieder, whose previous best in a World Cup race was 13th. “I didn’t make any big mistakes. It’s a dream for a downhill skier to get on the podium in Kitzbuehel. A dream come true.”

Today improving light played a significant role in the outcome. Many racers with higher bib numbers experienced improved visibility. This produced an opportunity for those later racers who skied well. Consequently, nine racers with bibs higher than 30, including Schieder, scored World Cup points. Three of those are from North America. Canada’s Broderick Thompson started 39th and finished ninth, USA’s Erik Arvidsson started 52nd and ended the day 21st and Canadian Brodie Seger started with bib 34 and finished 25th. Thompson was 3rd in a Beaver Creek super-G podium a year ago but this was his first World Cup downhill top 10.

It wouldn’t be a Kitzbühel without a Swiss athlete on the podium. Even though their best nearly ended his day on the Steilhang, Niels Hintermann finished the day third. However, it is impossible not to take note of his 23-year-old teammate Alexis Monney Mooney started 37th and finished 10th. Today the Swiss had five skiers finish in the points, none with the last name Odermatt. The retiring Swiss Champion Beat Feuz ended the day 28th and will hope for better in his final race tomorrow. Odermatt will not race Saturday as he hurt his knee during the dramatic Steilhang recovery and is now day to day.

Great day for USA’s Goldberg

Undoubtedly, the best part of the day for North America is the USA’s, Jared Goldberg. Goldberg has shown speed in sectors all season and, in December, earned sixth place in Gröden-Val Gardena. Today, on the World Cup’s most severe test, he finished a career-best fourth.

Goldberg pushes hard; his coaches say he has been one mistake away from becoming a podium downhiller. While no one skis the Streif without an error, today, he stayed square to his skis and shocked all but his team with his high finish. He was joined by three other Stifel US Alpine Team members in the points.

“I think I found another gear in my head space of how to push at the right times and stay loose,” said Goldberg.

Ganong joins Goldberg in the top 10

It is exciting to see two of the USA’s best in top form as we approach the World Championships in France. Travis Ganong joins Goldberg in the top 10. He finished seventh. Ganong has a reputation as one of the best skiers in the alpine World Cup. Today he showed his talent in the Super Bowl of speed events.

“I had some wild sections, which is a good thing because that means I was pushing,” said Ganong. “Looking at how it’s holding up now my time with the best guys. It’s awesome.”

Ganong has announced he will retire at the end of the season, “I’m pretty ready to start doing some new things,” Ganong said. ”It’s been 18 years on the U.S. team. I’m happy with what I’ve done. I’ve been among the best for a long time.”

A total of seven North Americans finished in the points. The others to join the above-mentioned are bib 30, Cameron Alexander, in 19th and bib 19, USA’s Bryce Bennett, in 29th.

Unfortunately, the day didn’t end without an injury. The race was interrupted for 20 minutes after Henrik Roea crashed while crossing the finish at 140 kph (87 mph). The Norwegian suffered an apparent leg injury and was taken to hospital by helicopter. At press time, Roe’s status was unknown. 

Analysis of the fastest three racers and North Americans in the top 30 and top 30 results

Top 30 Kitzbühel January 20th downhill results

The Associated Press and USST contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.