Paris pulls off downhill win in Lake Louise

By Published On: November 30th, 2013Comments Off on Paris pulls off downhill win in Lake Louise
SKI ALPIN - FIS WC Lake Louise, Abfahrt, Herren

Men’s downhill podium in Lake Louise (GEPA/Christopher Kelemen)

There are not a lot of ways to gain separation in Lake Louise on the ‘Men’s Olympic Downhill’ track. The course did show more teeth than in previous years with a variety of micro terrain that required focus from top to bottom. Still, the top four finishers were within .23 of a second, all skiing beautiful runs while capitalizing on the benefit of favorable visibility.

Italy’s Dominik Paris collected the win, the third of his career. Austrian Klaus Kroell shook off a shoulder injury for second with Frenchman Adrien Theaux, the early leader, hanging on for third.

Fourth went to the defending champion, and pre-race favorite Aksel Lund Svindal of Norwat. “So close to a good day,” he reported. “It was a tight race between four, but (I was) on the wrong side of the top four.”

Kroell indicated he had not anticipated anything better than a top 15 because of continuing problems with the left shoulder he injured last season at World Cup Finals. He said the weather gods had favored him with “partial sun and the wind from the right side.” He also allowed that he was “extremely surprised,” particularly since he has struggled in the training season with his boots.

“That was an insane match with Kroell,” said Paris, who also caught a few lucky breaks. “Except for the Schlusstor I have caught everything super.”

Theaux was the early leader, having put up a significant margin as the 13th starter. An eighth place result for Canada’s Erik Guay makes him the first male athlete to meet the alpine criteria for nomination to Canada’s Olympic team (two top-12 World Cup finishes).

“I’m really satisfied with the result, and also to have qualified for Sochi in the first race of the season,” said Guay. “I think my result today was an absolutely respectable start to the season, all things considered. A month ago I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to race here.”

It was a more disappointing day for the Americans, with top finisher Bode Miller in 16th place and Steven Nyman in 19th.

U.S. men’s coach Sasha Rearick said the course was “the bumpiest I have ever seen it. There was no point to relax and link turns.” However, he is pleased with the progress Miller has made in his return to competition.

“Bode’s result was OK, he made some mistakes in a few critical spots and that cost him some time,” said Rearick. “In general though, I’m happy with the progression he’s made after missing all of last season.”

Lake Louise is known for its weather issues, and while the winners said they may have benefited from wind, the bigger issue was visibility. “The guys in the teens definitely got the best visibility,” Rearick noted.

Kroell started 17th, Theaux 13th, Svindal 16th and Johan Clarey, who finished fifth, started 15th. Paris was the 20th skier out of the starthouse.

Miller looked solid through much of the run, but got kicked around by the bumpy course. Rearick said Nyman had also skied very well but had no chance at the point he ran due to conditions and erred right before the final flat.

 

The Scoop

Men’s World Cup Downhill, Lake Louise, Canada, Nov. 30, 2013

It is the third of 34 races on the men’s 2013-14 World Cup schedule. … The first of nine scheduled downhills. … It is the 91st World Cup race held, at least in part, at Lake Louise… the 57th downhill and the 20th men’s downhill. … Aksel Lund Svindal is the defending champion. … It is the first of two men’s races set for Lake Louise this season.

It is the third career World Cup win for Dominik Paris. All of them in downhill. He also won in Bormio Dec. 29, 2012 and Kitzbuehel Jan. 26, 2013. … It is his fourth result at Lake Louise, his previous best being an eighth Nov. 24, 2012.

It is the 23rd career World Cup podium for Klaus Kroell… 20th in downhill. … He has recorded one other podium at Lake Louise, a third place downhill finish Nov. 24, 2012.

It is the ninth career World Cup podium for Adrien Theaux… his fourth in downhill. … It is his second podium at Lake Louise, having also finished third in super G Nov. 27, 2011.

It is the 36th top 10 World Cup downhill finish for Erik Guay… and his tenth top 10 at Lake Louise. His best finish at the site is a second in DH Nov. 29. 2003

It is the 20th World Cup scoring finish at Lake Louise for Bode Miller. … It is the 18th career World Cup scoring finish for Steven Nyman… the sixth at Lake Louise. … It is the 13th career scoring finish at Lake Louise for Jan Hudec topped by a DH win Nov. 24, 2007. … It is the second best of four Lake Louise results for Travis Ganong, and his best DH result at the site. … It is the first DH result at the site for Erik Fisher. … It is the ninth Lake Louise score for Manuel Osborne-Paradis.

Marcel Hirscher (did not race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 160-124 over Ted Ligety (did not race). … Paris matches Aksel Lund Svindal (fourth in race) for third in the standings with 100pts.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 563-468 over France. … Italy is third with 266pts. … The U.S. is fifth at 186pt and Canada tenth at 55pts.

 

Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  20  291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  1:49.90  0.00
 2  17  50753 KROELL Klaus 1980 AUT  1:49.93  0.37
 3  13  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA  1:50.01  1.37
 4  16  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR  1:50.13  2.87
 5  15  191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA  1:50.64  9.22
 6  8  50858 STREITBERGER Georg 1981 AUT  1:50.93  12.84
 7  11  292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA  1:50.94  12.96
 8  18  102263 GUAY Erik 1981 CAN  1:50.98  13.46
 9  9  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:51.00  13.71
 10  37  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:51.14  15.46
 11  33  201811 STECHERT Tobias 1985 GER  1:51.17  15.83
 12  1  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA  1:51.22  16.45
 13  23  53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT  1:51.23  16.58
 14  22  293006 INNERHOFER Christof 1984 ITA  1:51.27  17.08
 15  29  511139 KUENG Patrick 1984 SUI  1:51.28  17.20
 16  10  532431 MILLER Bode 1977 USA  1:51.29  17.33
 17  12  191964 POISSON David 1982 FRA  1:51.35  18.08
 18  50  54005 STRIEDINGER Otmar 1991 AUT  1:51.40  18.70
 19  34  194190 ROGER Brice 1990 FRA  1:51.55  20.57
 19  6  533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA  1:51.55  20.57
 21  14  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:51.60  21.19
 22  27  102271 HUDEC Jan 1981 CAN  1:51.63  21.57
 23  5  510727 DEFAGO Didier 1977 SUI  1:51.65  21.82
 24  24  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:51.80  23.69
 25  21  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT  1:51.85  24.31
 26  38  534939 FISHER Erik 1985 USA  1:51.86  24.43
 27  28  51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  1:51.87  24.56
 28  4  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  1:51.92  25.18
 29  30  51327 PUCHNER Joachim 1987 AUT  1:52.04  26.68
 30  19  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  1:52.22  28.92
 31  32  202059 FERSTL Josef 1988 GER  1:52.43  31.54
 32  57  103385 PRIDY Conrad 1988 CAN  1:52.52  32.66
 33  7  560447 SPORN Andrej 1981 SLO  1:52.61  33.78
 34  26  51332 SCHEIBER Florian 1987 AUT  1:52.63  34.03
 35  35  103512 FRISCH Jeffrey 1984 CAN  1:52.64  34.16
 36  66  150398 BANK Ondrej 1980 CZE  1:52.65  34.28
 37  31  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  1:52.70  34.90
 38  2  533131 SULLIVAN Marco 1980 USA  1:52.75  35.53
 39  49  481705 GLEBOV Alexander 1983 RUS  1:52.76  35.65
 40  53  53936 DUERAGER Markus 1990 AUT  1:52.81  36.28
 41  71  511529 GISIN Marc 1988 SUI  1:52.89  37.27
 42  40  293141 VARETTONI Silvano 1984 ITA  1:53.07  39.52
 43  36  511352 VILETTA Sandro 1986 SUI  1:53.08  39.64
 44  46  103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN  1:53.18  40.89
 45  55  103612 PRIDY Morgan 1990 CAN  1:53.19  41.01
 46  61  510997 BERTHOD Marc 1983 SUI  1:53.31  42.51
 47  47  192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA  1:53.33  42.76
 48  39  293550 MARSAGLIA Matteo 1985 ITA  1:53.38  43.38
 49  59  201606 KEPPLER Stephan 1983 GER  1:53.40  43.63
 50  48  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 1981 SUI  1:53.59  46.00
 51  44  511981 WEBER Ralph 1993 SUI  1:53.70  47.37
 52  45  934643 GOLDBERG Jared 1991 USA  1:53.86  49.36
 53  52  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA  1:54.00  51.11
 54  58  501439 HEDIN Douglas 1990 SWE  1:54.02  51.36
 55  56  194167 MUZATON Maxence 1990 FRA  1:54.07  51.98
 56  41  191591 BERTRAND Yannick 1980 FRA  1:54.10  52.36
 57  65  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  1:54.24  54.10
 58  73  430429 BYDLINSKI Maciej 1988 POL  1:54.51  57.47
 59  69  200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER  1:55.10  64.82
 60  70  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO  1:55.27  66.94
 61  64  491151 DE LA CUESTA Paul 1988 SPA  1:55.39  68.44
 62  75  170131 FAARUP Christoffer 1992 DAN  1:57.55  95.36
 63  76  110324 VON APPEN Henrik 1994 CHI  1:57.80  98.48
Disqualified 1st run
 63  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO
Did not start 1st run
 74  670037 ZAKURDAEV Igor 1987 KAZ
 25  180570 ROMAR Andreas 1989 FIN
Did not finish 1st run
 72  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA
 68  501076 OLSSON Hans 1984 SWE
 67  201987 STRODL Andreas 1987 GER
 62  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA
 60  193034 BOUILLOT Alexandre 1985 FRA
 54  194542 GIRAUD MOINE Valentin 1992 FRA
 51  220695 CRAWFORD Douglas 1987 GBR
 43  511847 MANI Nils 1992 SUI
 42  934518 DANIELS Nick 1991 USA
 3  561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO

 

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”