BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal is a perfect three-for-three in World Cup speed this season after capturing today’s downhill in Beaver Creek. Svindal’s winning time of 1:42.34 seconds bested his compatriot Kjetil Jansrud in second place by 0.30 seconds. France’s Guillermo Fayed rounded out the podium, clocking in 0.70 seconds behind Svindal.

The last time Svindal managed to win three races in a row was in 2007, when he was victorious in the downhill, super G, and giant slalom at World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Svindal set himself apart from the rest of the field in the first 30 seconds of his run, visibly carrying more speed on the Flyway and into the Brink than the other racers.

“I have to say ‘thank you’ to Head,” Svindal said in the finish after his run. “They deliver some amazing skis. You don’t win on bad skis, and I had amazing skis today.”

“The course gets better and better every day, but I’m glad I don’t have to do it again because it’s so fast this year, that middle section is kind of risky,” he added. “I almost still have stomach pain because I knew I had to charge hard in that section if I wanted to win. Every sense in your body is telling you to slow down, but I didn’t want it to.”

Svindal was also quick to commend his countryman for his skills and acknowledged Jansrud’s abilities in the high speed turns found lower on the track. “I knew I couldn’t be behind him on the top because then I would have a hard time. So that was my most important section.”

For Jansrud, his second-place finish was a little bittersweet after winning both training runs, but marks the first time the Norwegian has made it to the podium this season after a disappointing series last week in Lake Louise.

“My run was I thought pretty good,” Jansrud said. “It was faster today, a little more icy, a little more wavy under the foot everywhere so it was tough to ski and it was one of the fastest Beaver Creek downhills we’ve had in many years I think. It’s hard to stay ahead of things, you’re always kind of trailing and trying to keep up with your speed. I had a good run and I think my time shows that I had a good run, Aksel just did something unbelievable up top, so that’s where he won the race.”

Fayed’s third-place finish is the Frenchman’s first trip to the podium since he finished third in last season’s Hahnenkamm downhill.

“I really like this slope, and I think all the athletes do, so being able to do a podium here is wonderful,” Fayed said. “The upper part was not as good as planned. I did pretty bad in the steep part, but the lower part went really well. I have great feeling in the flats and in the jumps, so in the end it’s a solid run. I’m relieved that I claimed this podium spot today, especially since it’s not happening at every race for me, but I still have to work a lot to catch up with the two guys in front of me. I’m almost surprised by my regularity and I wonder when the bad day will come. In the meantime, I just enjoy being there day after day.”

For the Americans, perhaps an otherwise lackluster day was turned around once Andrew Weibrecht stepped into the starting gate.

Conjuring up memories of his unforgettable 2007 ride down the Birds of Prey when he charged from the 53rd start position to finish 10th, this time Weibrecht wore bib 34 and attacked the course with the same aggression that brought the Warhorse two Olympic medals. Crossing the line in fifth, 0.97 seconds behind Svindal, Weibrecht thumped his chest and knew he had done something special.

“You never know. It’s downhill, you let it run the best you can,” an exasperated Weibrecht said in the finish. “Sometimes you feel great and you’re slow. Sometimes you’re a little loose and reckless like I was and you keep it running and you’re fast. That run felt good, I was definitely hanging it out. A couple times I didn’t know if maybe I gave away too much or risked a little too much, but I guess it was right in there. I skied the way I wanted to all the way down. That’s all I really care about, you know?”

Weibrecht said the course report he received from Travis Ganong was the key to being able to execute on the tough, fast track.

“Travis gave a great report, he said that things were running a little bit faster tempo than they had been the previous days. It was definitely icier and a little more rattly. Stuff was just coming at you, the bumps were kicking you a little more than they had the pervious days. It was a perfect report, it got me in the right mindset and I just sent it.”

For young American Downhiller and Squaw Valley, Calif., native Bryce Bennett, his 29th-place finish marked the first trip of his career into the World Cup points.

“It’s unbelievable. I was pretty nervous all day, pretty much all week. I’ve skied this hill a lot, ever since I was a kid doing NDS (National Development System) camps and I knew I could put a run together,” he said. “It was just scary to commit to it, but it worked out.”

Racing action continues in Beaver Creek tomorrow with the men’s super G. Start time is set for 11:00 a.m. local MST.

More photos from the race here.

The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1 Svindal, Head/Head/Head
2 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
3 Fayed, Head/Head/Head
4 Reichelt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Weibrecht, Head/Head/Head
5 Janka, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Innerhofer, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Fill, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Kueng, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Theaux, Head/Head/Head

• Men’s World Cup downhill, Beaver Creek, USA, Dec. 4,, 2015. … It is the first of three races scheduled for Beaver Creek, the only US stop of the season for the men. …  It is the fourth of 45 races on the men’s 2015-16 world Cup schedule with one cancellation (Levi slalom). … It is the second of 11 men’s downhills. … It is the 60^th World Cup race hosted by Beaver Creek … the 21^st downhill. … Norwegians have won the last two downhills at the site, Aksel Lund Svindal Dec. 6, 2013 and Kjetil Jansrud Dec 5, 2014. … Jansrud was fastest to complete both training runs and has been top two in all five training runs held this season including those at Lake Louise last week.
• It is the 28^th career World Cup win for Aksel Lund Svindal and his third straight win. …Winning margin is 0.30 seconds. … top six are within the same second. It is the 10th World Cup downhill win for Svindal. … It is his fifth win at Beaver Creek and third downhill win at the site.
• It is the 26^th career World Cup podium for Kjetil Jansrud. … his first of the season. … It is his 10th World Cup downhill podium. … It is his sixth World Cup podium at Beaver Creek including the win in downhill last December.
• It is the third career World Cup podium placing for Guillermo Fayed, all in downhill, his others coming at Lake Louise (second on Nov. 29, 2014) and Kitzbuehel (third on Jan. 24, 2015).
• Andrew Weibrecht matches his career best result, achieved twice previously, both times in super G (Kitzbuehel 2015 and Kvitfjell 2015). … The result is his best in downhill and best at Beaver Creek overtaking a 10th from 2007.
• It is the 11th time Erik Guay has finished 11^th in a World Cup race. .. It is the 18^th time Travis Ganong has made the top dozen in a World Cup race. … It is his second best finish at Beaver Creek. … It is his third best finish of the season in three races. … Steven Nyman makes the top 15 of a World Cup race for the 29^th time in his career. … It is the second scoring finish at Beaver Creek for Benjamin Thomsen and his second downhill score of the season. … It is the first World Cup scoring result for Bryce Bennett.
• Svindal leads the overall standings 307-172 over Peter Fill (eighth in race). … Jansrud is third at 151. … Travis Ganong is fourth with 132pts and Ted Ligety eighth with 100pts.
• Svindal leads the downhill standings 200-112 over Fill with Fayed in third at 110pts. … Ganong is sixth at 82pts, Weibrecht ninth at 52pts and Guay 10th at 50pts.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 639-558 over Norway. … Italy is third with 471pts. … The USA is fifth at 346pts and Canada seventh with 92pts.

Official Results