Liechtenstein's Marco Buechel won the third race of his career, becoming the oldest man to win a World Cup ski race by winning the Lake Louise downhill Saturday at age 35 years, 20 days.
   Buechel won in 1 minute, 50.72 seconds, with unheralded Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis runner-up in 1:50.77. Steven Nyman, who also led the Americans in Lake Louise a year ago, was 17th with Marco Sullivan 25th, Scott Macartney 27th and Bode Miller 28th.

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Liechtenstein's Marco Buechel won the third race of his career, becoming the oldest man to win a World Cup ski race by winning the Lake Louise downhill Saturday at age 35 years, 20 days.
   Buechel won in 1 minute, 50.72 seconds, with unheralded Canadian Manuel Osborne-Paradis runner-up in 1:50.77. Steven Nyman, who also led the Americans in Lake Louise a year ago, was 17th with Marco Sullivan 25th, Scott Macartney 27th and Bode Miller 28th.
    Italy's Peter Fill took third place as the powerful Austrians, who had swept the first five places in Friday's final training, were kept off the podium. Osborne-Paradis, fourth out of the start, led much of the day in freezing temperatures, with his time holding up until Buechel raced out of spot 28.
    “It was a disappointing day for us,” U.S. head men’s coach Phil McNichol said. “Our expectations were to have someone on the podium, or at least a couple of guys in the top 10. At one point today it looked like we’d have three guys in the top 15, but it was a day where the results were a little uncommon, a lot of guys came from the back to score points, and a lot of excellent racers didn’t score.”
    McNichol said a cold front that moved into the region made things miserably uncomfortable for racers and techs, and led to some broken skis. “Our guys were just off the mark, we made too many mistakes. The snow was much colder today than yesterday. We were prepared for the cold snow, but we haven’t run on anything that cold yet. I think we saw today that it was hit or miss for a lot of people," he said.
    "Clearly, our guys didn't ski as well as they can. We had been targeting this technical section, which clearly was an important part — the top of Gunbarrel, a net turn, a big fall-away and you need to carry your speed onto the flats … and, in general, our guys did much better there, but there were too many mistakes in other parts," he said.
    "For instance, 'Sully' should have had a better result — he was third in the most technical section, but then he was slow at the bottom. So, we gotta recover, keep the chin up and focus on what we did well … and go get 'em tomorrow when it's supposed to be even colder then, too." Click here to see highlights of Marco Sullivan's run.
    Buechel was upbeat after his latest big move. “I was so nervous today because I was off in training. I am just speechless,” Buechel said. “Lake Louise is the most beautiful race in the world. I trained all summer for this race. Lake Louise is very important for me.  As I get older training becomes harder for me but I had my focus set on this race.
    “All summer, winning Lake Louise was my biggest goal. When I broke some ribs 12 days ago on the right side, two centimeters away from the spine, I had to stay in bed for a few days and that dream started to drift away.”
    Hans Grugger, coming back from injury after his horrendous crash in Bormio last year, was the best Austrian, in fourth place ahead of Switzerland’s Didier Cuche and Austrian Hermann Maier.
    It was a tough day for plenty of favorites who failed to achieve their potential. Defending downhill World Cup champion Michael Walchhofer, a winner at Lake Louise in 2003, was only 10th after a bad mistake in the final turn, while Erik Guay finished a distant 23rd. Benjamin Raich, suffering a cold, was 31st, Olympic champion Antoine Deneriaz 37th and Aksel-Lund Svindal a disappointing 47th.
    A year ago, Buechel won a downhill at Val Gardena, Italy, and he won a super G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in January 2003. Buechel celebrated his third tour victory on the day his father, celebrated his 60th birthday. “This day will forever be special to me,” Buechel admitted with a big smile after the competition. “I dedicate this win to my dad at home!”
    “I didn’t think this could be possible coming here after my crash in Nakiska two weeks ago,” the 35-year-old said. “I suffer from that broken rib which prevents me to relax and sleep well at night. I didn’t feel so confident during my training runs here because I had to rest for 10 days after my accident while my colleagues were training hard.
   “At my age, training is getting really boring and you pay a hard price for each drop of sweat,” Buechel said. “I tried to motivate me thinking about this race all the time. The slope is perfect for me but I gave up all my hopes after my crash. It was impossible in my mind to win this race and I was already happy to be able to start today.
    “Then I had that good run and suddenly I saw the No. 1 raising next to my name in the finish line. It was crazy! I feel sorry of course for Manuel, who is a good friend of mine. It would have been great for him to become the first Canadian to win here, but that’s the way it is. He is young and has more time than me.”
    Buechel, second in giant slalom at the 1999 worlds in Vail behind Norway’s Lasse Kjus, is aiming for another medal in three months at Are, Sweden. “I don’t want to set myself precise goals besides getting as many podium finishes as possible, but for sure I wish to get another medal in Sweden. There is a strong tradition of good skiers from our tiny country which I want to continue,” he said.
    Osborne-Paradise was very close to celebrating a historical win in front of his fans. “This is huge for me you know, to be on the podium here at home is just great,” said the 22-year-old Canadian, whose father has been a course worker for years in Lake Louise.
    Four Canadians scored points Saturday —a promising team performance three years prior to the 2010 Olympic races at Whistler.
    Buechel and Osborne-Canadian are close friends on the men’s tour. “This is a great start to the year,” Osborne-Paradis said. “I’ve been here at Lake Louise on this run many times before but today’s run doesn’t compare to anything else. “
    “I had a good feeling riding up the chair today. I had good music in, I felt warm, comfortable and in the zone.”
    Italy’s Fill was a determined third — his fourth podium finish in a World Cup race. Last winter the 24-year old skier reached the podium in downhill (Are), super G (Kitzbühel) and super combined (Wengen). “I expect a lot from this season. I hope to score more than 800 World Cup points and reach the top 10 in the overall standings.
    “Last summer, I trained along some of the best skiers on the tour, Giorgio Rocca and Massimiliano Blardone. We form a new group of allrounders and I strongly believe it can help me to move up. This result is
crucial for our staff and the entire team.”
    Two Austrian at least were delighted by their performance — Grugger and Maier — but most of their teammates were more disappointed. It’s the first time since 1980 that no Austrian has made the podium here.
    “I didn’t expect to be back so quickly,” said Grugger, the very talented athlete from Badgastein who enjoyed a great start last winter before his crash in Bormio. “It’s a strong boost for my confidence.”
    Maier, too, feels better after missing the first day of training after taking a well-deserved break near Los Angeles. The skier from Flachau suffered from sinusitis and asthma while training in Colorado last week and he preferred resting on the Pacific Coast instead of coming up here. “It was a good decision, my condition improved each day and things went fine today,” he explained. “I skied pretty well today and I’m not so far from the podium, I’m looking forward for the super G tomorrow.”
    Maier has won Lake Louise super G races three times since 1998 and finished second behind Miller in 2004. He may well be the skier to beat on Sunday. Also looking for revenge are Svindal, the winner from last year, and Raich, who dreams to excel in the speed events this season.

THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Men’s DH, Lake Louise, Canada, Nov. 25, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/binding
1 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
2 Osborne-Paradis, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
4 Grugger, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
5 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Maier, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Kroell, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
8 Keppler, Head/Head/Tyrolia
9 Kernen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Men’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta, Nov. 25, 2006. … It is the first downhill of the 2006-07 World Cup season. … The first of 11 DHs and second of 38 competitions on the men’s World Cup calendar. … It is the 36th Cup DH held at Lake Louise, the 11th for men. … Fritz Strobl won the last men’s DH at the site Nov. 26, 2005.
    It is the third career World Cup victory for 35-year-old Marco Buechel, his second in DH, the other from Dec. 17, 2005, at Val Gardena. … His first career victory came in super G at Garmisch Feb. 23, 2003. … It is the 59th Cup win for Liechtenstein, the last three coming from Buechel. … He is now the fourth-ranked Liechtenstein skier in Cup wins behind Hanni Wenzel’s 33, Andreas Wenzel’s 14 and Paul Frommelt with four. … Buechel was third at Lake Louise in DH last season, one day shy of exactly a year ago.
    It is the first career podium for 22-year-old Manuel Osborne-Paradis. … His first result better than 12th. … He has just six scoring results. … It is the best Canadian DH result since Erik Guay finished second at Lake Louise Nov. 29, 2003. … Osborne-Paradis matches Guay for the best Canadian result in DH ever at Lake Louise. … Osborne-Paradis started fourth and held the lead until Buechel skied in from bib 28.
    It is the fourth career podium for 23-year-old Peter Fill, all of them in the 2006 calendar year. … It is his second podium in DH, the other from Are, March 15, 2006, giving him two consecutive DH podiums. … His only placing better than third is a second-place finish in super G at Kitzbühel Jan. 20, 2006. It is also the second straight men’s DH in which Austria has failed to place a skier on the podium, though it did have four in the top 10.
    It is the second-best career result (14th) for John Kucera, and his best in DH by a long shot, his previous best a 25th at Lake Louise a season ago. He has three combined results better than 25th, including his best career score, a 12th at Wengen Jan. 14, 2005. … It is the fifth career score, second in DH, for Jan Hudec, who tied Steven Nyman in 17th place. … It is the 11th career scoring result and fifth-best for Nyman. … It is the third-best DH result ever for Nyman — the winner of the first training run — bettered at Lake Louise (15th) last season and at Garmisch (4th) Jan. 28, 2006. … It is the worst result (23rd) at Lake Louise of seven scoring finishes for Erik Guay. … It is the 14th career scoring finish for Marco Sullivan, his first ever before December. … It is the 16th career scoring result for Scott Macartney and the 136th for Bode Miller.
    Benjamin Raich, the tour leader after the opening slalom, finished one place out of the points, bumped down by teammate Romed Baumann. … As a result he is tied for the tour lead with Buechel. … Jimmy Cochran leads U.S. men on the overall standings chart at 29th.

Lake Louise men's World up downhill results

Did not start 1st run: ZRNCIC-DIM Natko (CRO), PERKO Rok (SLO)
Disqualified 1st run: BANK Ondrej (CZE)