BEAVER CREEK, COLORADO,04.DEC.22. Odermatt, Kilde and Pinturault. Photo: GEPA pictures

The Eagle Valley woke to partly cloudy skies. Although there was an overnight dusting of snow, the temperature was warmer than the previous two days. Super-G is very challenging because of the speed and the fact that they only have one inspection. Super-G on Birds of Prey is uniquely challenging. This is due to the top being steep and technical and requiring an incredible commitment to the turns, and the bottom is downhill with more turns. It absolutely tests all your skills.

Bib 3, France’s Alexis Pinturault, 2021 overall World Cup champion, showed this is a hill that benefits the athlete who is very confident turning. After his spectacular performance on the top pitch, Pete’s arena, Pinturault crossed 0.5 seconds ahead of the leader in the finish Romed Bauman. Pinturault finished a strong 3rd.

Pinturault held the lead until Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt completed an even better run. Odermatt was second in the downhill and showed why he is the best overall skier in the world. With near-perfect execution on the demanding course, he finished 0.1 seconds ahead of the flying Frenchman. 

However, there was a Norwegian threat waiting at the start. Yesterday’s downhill winner is skiing with an extraordinary commitment to speed and has the power to execute his aggression. With the fantastic Swiss skier leading in the finish, Kilde was able to show why he loves the Birds of Prey. Odermatt skied an undoubtedly tremendous run, and Kilde crossed 0,20 seconds faster. 

Following up on a win in a downhill on the same mountain Saturday, Kilde finished the Birds of Prey super-G course in 1:10.73 by showcasing smooth, clean skiing, never off-balance, never out of control. He blew a kiss to the crowd after his run.

In a recent interview in SRM, Kilde expressed his love and appreciation for the Beaver Creek races and competing in the US. Now his love of the Birds of Prey should grow. This week in Colorado, he could not be beaten. 

The young stars are rising

Notably, to no one’s surprise, Kilde’s two 22-year-old teammates skiing with bibs 32 and 33 pushed their limits and finished in the top ten. Atle Lie McGrath, born in the US, finished 5th and the exciting Lucas Braathen crossed in 7th. If anyone thinks Kilde is alone in the world of Norwegian men’s speed, think again. Although this was their first World Cup speed event, they both have two World Cup victories in tech events. We may be looking at the next generation of overall winners. It would be easy to believe. 

Today’s fantastic outcome for the US is another young, proven GS skier. Hometown athlete River Radamus, skiing with bib 57, finished in the points in 16th place. River and his parents live only a few kilometers from the finish. Needless to say Radamus ignited the roars of the crowd.

The 24-year-old skied with an energy few could muster in the steeper top two sections. Radamus backed his world-class top sections by skiing at a high level in the flatter bottom. Today was Radamus’s first time finishing a Super-G in the points, and he became the second US male athlete to accomplish that milestone this year. 

While Canada did not repeat yesterday’s podium, they had four athletes in the points. James Crawford, yesterday’s third-place finisher, led the Canadian attack in 11th. He was joined in the top 30 by Jeff Read in 20th, former University of Denver skier Trevor Philp in 27th, and Broderick Thompson, last year’s 3rd place finisher, in 28th.

Five North Americans were able to finish in the top 30. 

As they start their journey into providing alpine ski racing content, the Outside feed is experiencing unfortunate technical issues.

However, they provided great commentary from former Stifel U.S. Alpine Team athlete Marco Sullivan.

Outside has acknowledged its mistake and is fixing the problems for future broadcasts.

There is, however, great news, the event will be available online for free at 5 pm ET and additionally, NBC is airing the event on tape delay at 5 pm ET.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.