Twice the bridesmaid, Kjetil Jansrud was not about to let the third opportunity slip by. His home, in Vinstra is just 40 or so minutes from Kvitfjell and he knows the mountain and the Olympiabakken race course well, like, he says, the back of his hand. That had been demonstrated in all four previous runs down the track this week when he won both trainings runs and been beaten in the two World Cup events by .03 and .02 of a second. He was determined not to let the last chance get away Sunday (March 4) in the final World Cup super G before Finals at Schladming in two weeks.

He said he had made up his mind to do everything possible to finally get the victory. "I took the straightest possible line today and cut the turns as much as possible. I was ready (prepared) to ski out. I wanted badly to win that race."

With a light snow falling, and the track bumped and choppy from the week worth of heavy traffic, the 26 year old set out to bring Norway it's first home snow win in 15years. The 12th man out of the start house used his knowledge of the subtleties of the Kvitfjell course to full effect, picking up more than a half second on the previous 11 from the second interval timer to the third, and continuing to pad that margin skiing a near perfect line with aggression, power and no small amount of determination. When he crossed the finish he was 1.42 seconds ahead.

The margin was enormous but he had been in this position before. For the third time in three races he took his position in the leader's vestibule with the television cameras focused on him and settled in to watch the best racers in the world try to unseat him. This time, none did.

Coming closest was super G tour leader, and teammate Aksel Lund Svindal. One small error, a drop off on course seemed to catch him by surprise in the flattening light, may have cost Svindal, but he charged home just .21 behind Jansrud.

Klaus Kroell had twice played the devil's role to steal away Norwegian wins in the previous days. While he seemed to be perfectly on the line he also seemed to lack the fight. An early lead drifted to fourth place on the day.

Coming third in the final outcome was Beat Feuz, carrying the incentive of the World Cup overall title with him. With half as many races in the remaining calendar favoring his prowess in speed than races favoring his top competitors, he felt the need to collect as many points as possible from this last speed race before finals. He recorded the fastest speed on the course for the day, 114.8kph, but finished third.

When the last of the major challengers, Didier Cuche, started to drop back early on the course and never recovered, the two Norwegians, with the cameras still trained on them at the bottom, began to believe the race might be theirs.

Norway got its home win.

"I have no idea when the last time two Norwegians were in the top," said Jansrud.

"It's usually two Norwegians in the starting field," said Svindal.

It last time it happened was a slalom in 2004 when Truls Ove Kalrsen and Tom Stiansen got the placings at Kranjska Gora. In a speed event Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Lasse Kjus snared the top two placings in downhill at Kitzbuehel in 1999.

Jansrud said he had skied "as well as I can," and had been so frustrated by the close losses earlier in the week that, "I had nothing to lose anymore."

Erik Guay got the top result for North America in ninth with teammates Jan Hudec 19th and Jeffrey Frisch 28th.

After a series of podium results the finishes did not exactly please the palate. "It's easy to get all bummed out about today, or the last couple of days," said Hudec. "II had a good run. I skied fairly good with a couple of little mistakes here and there. ... I'm perplexed about where I lose two seconds. I know where one second went, but not the second one."

Andrew Weibrecht, the first skier on the course today, got the lone US points in 23rd, but the placing was worth more than it might appear on the surface. He sits 23rd in the super G standings as well and will get a start at World Cup finals.

Gepa image

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Men's World Cup super G, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 4, 2012
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
2 Svindal, Head/Head/Head
3 Feuz, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Kroell, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Franz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Cuche, Head/Head/Head
7 Romar, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Reichelt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Olsson, Head/Head/Head

Men's World Cup super G, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 4, 2012. ... It is the 38th of 44 races on the men's 2012 World Cup schedule. ... The seventh of eight scheduled super G's. ... the 48th Cup race hosted at Kvitfjell. ... the second this weekend.

It is the first career World Cup victory for Kjetil Jansrud. ... It is his tenth career podium and fifth of the season. ... It is his third straight podium finish over the last three days. ... It is the first Norwegian win on home snow since Lasse Kjus won at Kvitfjell (DH) March 2, 1997.

It is the 40th career World Cup podium result for Aksel Lund Svindal. ... his 14th in SG. ... It is his fourth podium of the season and second in two days. ... It is his sixth Cup podium result scored at Kvitfjell. ... It is the first Norwegian one-two Cup finish since Feb. 29, 2004 when Truls Ove Kalrsen and Tom Stiansen finished respectively in slalom at Kranjska Gora.

It is the 14th career World Cup podium result for Beat Feuz. ... his third in super G. ... It is his 12th Cup podium of the season. ... It is his fourth podium scored at Kvitfjell and second at the site this season.

North Americans: It is the 57th career World Cup top 10 for Erik Guay. ... the 26th in SG. ... It is his ninth top 10 of the season and second straight ninth place finish in SG. ... It is the 32nd career Cup top 20 finish for Jan Hudec. ... his 17th score of the season. ... It is his sixth best of nine scoring results at Kvitfjell. ... It is the 23rd career Cup scoring finish for Andrew Weibrecht. ... his seventh of the season. ... his career second score at Kvitfjell. ... It is the fifth career Cup scoring result for Jeffrey Frisch and second of the season. ... It is his second score at Kvitfjell.

Standings: Feuz extends his lead of the World Cup overall standings to 1250-1135 over Marcel Hirscher (did not race). ... Ivica Kostelic (did not race) is third with 1043pts. ... Ted Ligety (did not race) is tenth with 6674pts. ... Guay is top Canadian in 16th with 517pts, Hudec is 17th with 494. ... Svindal leads the super G standings with one race remaining 413-371 over Didier Cuche (sixth in race). ... Feuz is third with 368pts. ... Only those three can win the title. ... Hudec is sixth with 304pts and Bode Miller (did not race) is 14th with 119pts. ... Austria leads the men's Nations Cup standings 6661-4063 over Switzerland. ... Italy is third with 3228pts. ... The US is sixth with 1863 and Canada seventh with 1577.

Kvitfjell (NOR)
FIS World Cup
Men's Super G