Mayer golden for Austria in Olympic downhill

Innerhofer, Mayer and Jansrud on the downhill podium. (GEPA/Christian Walgram)

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia – America’s Bode Miller and Austria’s Matthias Mayer were the two favorites going into Sunday’s Olympic downhill. It turned into a golden day for Mayer, and a day of heartbreak for Miller.

Mayer, 23, won the first gold medal of the Sochi Olympics for Austria, taking the men’s downhill in a time of 2:06.23, just six-hundredths ahead of Italy’s Christof Innerhofer, and 0.10 seconds in front of bronze medalist Kjetil Jansrud of Norway.

For Mayer, it was his first major international win; his previous World Cup best was second, twice, both times in super G. He’d never been better than fifth in a World Cup downhill. Jansrud picked up his second Olympic medal, having won super G silver in Vancouver in 2010.

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, the World Cup downhill leader, finished fourth, and American Travis Ganong had the biggest race of his career, finishing fifth in 2:06.64, just three-tenths off the podium.

Miller, who wound up eighth in 2:06.75, was fastest at the top of the hill, as he had been while posting the quickest times in two of the three training runs; Mayer was best in the third. Miller said that he felt he had not been as far ahead of the field at the top on race day, and was affected, perhaps more than some other skiers, by the flatter light. All three training runs happened under sunny skies.

Miller, clearly disappointed in the finish area, said he had “a bobble” at the top, “and I didn’t have as much time in hand as in the training runs. Not to make excuses, but when the visibility goes bad, it affects me quite a bit. … Matthias is great that way. He doesn’t really change when the visibility goes bad and that’s where he had an advantage today.”

“Of course Bode was very fast in the training runs,” Mayer said in his post-race press conference, “and I analyzed his runs. Especially to the first intermediate (interval) Bode was unbelievable yesterday. Everybody knew Bode could be the Olympic winner today. But I knew in the last two intermediate times, I could be very fast. Therefore I stopped my training yesterday, and saved some power for today. And I think that was very good and was very important for me today.”

As disappointed as his teammate was, Travis Ganong, 25, was just as clearly thrilled to have his best-ever result in his first-ever Olympic downhill.

“I had no idea what I would feel like kicking out of the starting gate today,” he said. “I just let myself relax and let my skiing take over. I had a lot of fun and it worked out. (The course) was actually a lot more forgiving today. … I was really able to push hard from top to bottom and I felt great at the finish.”

Said head men’s coach Sasha Rearick, “I’m excited that we got that one (Ganong’s result). I’m excited for Travis, to be able to come out and execute. I was really exited to see him come out and ski like he can, and that shows me a lot of his courage and ability to come out on race day and charge. … I’m excited that Bode got this one out of the way. He got the nerves out of the way, and now he’s going to take his aggression to the next courses — that I’m confident on.”

The other two Americans in the race, Steven Nyman and Marco Sullivan, had disappointing days. Nyman, starting number one, was 27th, 2.92 seconds out (“I skied pretty, but not fast,” he said), and Sullivan wound up 30th, 3.87 seconds behind.

For the Canadians, Erik Guay was 10th, Benjamin Thomsen 19th, Jan Hudec 21st, and Manuel Osborne-Paradis 25th.

Good news for everyone involved was the turnout for the men’s downhill. After just about no one had shown up for any of the training runs, there were thousands of people on hand for the first actual alpine race of the Olympics. The stands, said to hold 7,500 people, were probably 80 percent full. And while Russia is not famous for its support of alpine racing, the crowd got loud at all the right times.

And, it should be said, eerily quiet when Bode Miller came across the line out of the money.

See more photos from the Sochi downhill in our gallery.

Watch Matthias Mayer’s reaction to Bode’s run

THE SCOOP

by Hank McKee

Men’s Olympic Downhill, Feb 9, 2014. … The opening alpine event of the 22nd Winter Olympics. … It is the 35th Olympic downhill, the 18th for men. Eleven Austrians have claimed gold medals in Olympic downhill, five Germans, one Canadian (Kerrin Lee-Gartner), six French, one Italian (Zeno Colo), seven Swiss and three Americans (Bill Johnson, Tommy Moe and Lindsey Vonn). Race is delayed 15 minutes due to the gondola stopping, holding skiers like Travis Ganong from getting to the start on time.

It is the first major international victory for Matthias Mayer. … His best World Cup result is second, accomplished twice, both times in super G (Kitzbuehel Jan. 25, 2013 and Lake Louise Dec. 1, 2013). … His best World Cup downhill result is fifth from Bormio Dec. 29. … He had one World Junior Championship medal, a silver in super G in 2008 and a third in DH at the Austrian Nationals March 24, 2012. … He does own a couple Europa Cup wins. … He joins Toni Sailer, Egon Zimmerman, Franz Klammer, Leonard Stock, Patrick Ortlieb and Fritz Strobl as Austrian men to have won the Olympic downhill.

It is the first Olympic medal for Christof Innerhofer. … He hit the medal cycle at the 2011 World Championships with a gold (SG), silver (SC) and bronze (DH). … He has six World Cup wins. … four of them in downhill.

It is the second Olympic medal for Kjetil Jansrud having also earned silver in super G at Whistler in 2010. … His only better result this season was a second in DH at Val Gardena Dec. 21.

It is the first career Olympic result for Travis Ganong and is a career-best result on the international stage. … His best World Cup finish is sixth in SG at Kitzbuhel Jan. 26. His best in downhill was seventh at Bormio Dec. 29 and at Kitzbuehel Jan. 24. … It is the eighth best Olympic result for Bode Miller who owns a U.S. record five medals. … It is the fourth best Olympic result for Erik Guay, his fifth best finish of the season. … It is the first Olympic placing for Benjamin Thomsen, his second best showing of the season after a 12th in DH at Kitzbuehel. … It is the best of three career Olympic results for Jan Hudec. … It is the fourth Olympic result for Manuel Oborne-Paradis. … his sixth best of eight placings this season. … It is the third best of five Olympic results for Steven Nyman… the third best of four for Marco Sullivan.

Austria leads the alpine medal chase with one gold, Italy has one silver and Norway one bronze.

RESULTS