Lake Louise: Svindal triumphs in super G
Defending World Cup overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal won Sunday’s season-opening super G, beating Benjamin Raich by nearly a half-second.
Svindal, who won the season-opening GS at Sölden in October, completed the 2,357-meter Olympic course in an unofficial time of 1 minute 29.19 seconds. Austria's Raich clocked 1:29.63, while Switzerland’s Didier Cuche finished third in 1:29.79.
Steven Nyman paced the U.S. Ski Team in 13th place. Scott Macartney finished 17th, American independent racer Bode Miller finished 25th, T.J. Lanning was 31st and Marco Sullivan 35th. Andrew Weibrecht was a DNF.
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Defending World Cup overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal won Sunday’s season-opening super G, beating Benjamin Raich by nearly a half-second.
Svindal, who won the season-opening GS at Sölden in October, completed the 2,357-meter Olympic course in an official time of 1 minute 29.19 seconds. Austria's Raich clocked 1:29.63, while Switzerland’s Didier Cuche finished third in 1:29.79.
Svindal trailed Raich by less than one-tenth of a second after the third interval clocking before turning on the jets through the finish. Raich, who had started No. 9, had seized the lead from Canada’s Erik Guay, who started No. 8 and thrilled the home crowd by landing in the hot seat.
The victory was Svindal's seventh in just under a year.
''I would say I'm skiing good,'' said Svindal, who won the super-G at Lake Louise two years ago. ''My skiing is stable and consistent.
''I like the snow here. It's more like Scandinavian snow. It's dry and you can do good turns on it. I like to race in Canada. It's a good place.''
Steven Nyman paced the U.S. Ski Team in 13th place. Scott Macartney finished 17th, American independent racer Bode Miller finished 25th, T.J. Lanning was 31st and Marco Sullivan 35th. Andrew Weibrecht was a DNF.
The victory gave Svindal, who will turn 25 the day after Christmas, the overall lead with 234 points, 68 more than Raich and 94 ahead of Kalle Palander of Finland, who doesn't compete in the speed events and fell to third.
Slovenia's Andrej Jerman was fourth in 1:29.83.
Guay ended up finishing fifth in 1:29.85, joined in the top 10 by compatriots John Kucera in seventh with a time of 1:29.96 and Jan Hudec in eighth in 1:30.04.
Switzerland's Ambrosi Hoffmann was sixth in 1:29.90. His countryman Didier Defago was ninth, followed by Austria's Christoph Gruber.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report
Lake Louise World Cup men's super G
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 17 | 421328 | SVINDAL Aksel Lund | 1982 | NOR | 1:29.19 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 9 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:29.63 | 5.08 |
| 3 | 22 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:29.79 | 6.93 |
| 4 | 30 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 1:29.83 | 7.39 |
| 5 | 8 | 102263 | GUAY Erik | 1981 | CAN | 1:29.85 | 7.62 |
| 6 | 7 | 510767 | HOFFMANN Ambrosi | 1977 | SUI | 1:29.90 | 8.20 |
| 7 | 20 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 1:29.96 | 8.89 |
| 8 | 27 | 102271 | HUDEC Jan | 1981 | CAN | 1:30.04 | 9.82 |
| 9 | 14 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:30.16 | 11.20 |
| 10 | 21 | 50451 | GRUBER Christoph | 1976 | AUT | 1:30.19 | 11.55 |
| 11 | 6 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:30.24 | 12.13 |
| 12 | 3 | 50600 | GOERGL Stephan | 1978 | AUT | 1:30.27 | 12.47 |
| 13 | 4 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 1:30.35 | 13.40 |
| 14 | 28 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:30.41 | 14.09 |
| 15 | 16 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 1:30.52 | 15.36 |
| 16 | 18 | 50423 | MAIER Hermann | 1972 | AUT | 1:30.53 | 15.47 |
| 17 | 25 | 532490 | MACARTNEY Scott | 1978 | USA | 1:30.60 | 16.28 |
| 18 | 13 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:30.71 | 17.55 |
| 18 | 11 | 290998 | STAUDACHER Patrick | 1980 | ITA | 1:30.71 | 17.55 |
| 18 | 5 | 201606 | KEPPLER Stephan | 1983 | GER | 1:30.71 | 17.55 |
| 21 | 10 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:30.79 | 18.48 |
| 22 | 24 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:30.84 | 19.05 |
| 23 | 31 | 191116 | DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel | 1977 | FRA | 1:30.85 | 19.17 |
| 24 | 12 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:30.88 | 19.52 |
| 25 | 19 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:30.90 | 19.75 |
| 26 | 23 | 50041 | WALCHHOFER Michael | 1975 | AUT | 1:30.93 | 20.09 |
| 27 | 49 | 510747 | GRUENENFELDER Tobias | 1977 | SUI | 1:30.94 | 20.21 |
| 28 | 52 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:30.95 | 20.33 |
| 28 | 1 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:30.95 | 20.33 |
| 30 | 29 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:30.98 | 20.67 |
| 31 | 55 | 534567 | LANNING Thomas (tj) | 1984 | USA | 1:31.06 | 21.60 |
| 32 | 35 | 50761 | ALSTER Christoph | 1980 | AUT | 1:31.19 | 23.10 |
| 33 | 37 | 501026 | RAINER Niklas | 1983 | SWE | 1:31.25 | 23.79 |
| 34 | 38 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:31.42 | 25.75 |
| 35 | 59 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | 1:31.45 | 26.10 |
| 36 | 56 | 292000 | BLARDONE Massimiliano | 1979 | ITA | 1:31.51 | 26.79 |
| 37 | 2 | 291399 | GIRARDI Walter | 1976 | ITA | 1:31.55 | 27.25 |
| 38 | 50 | &nbs p;102961 |
DIXON Robbie | 1985 | CAN | 1:31.58 | 27.60 |
| 39 | 47 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | 1:31.63 | 28.18 |
| 40 | 26 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 1:31.66 | 28.52 |
| 41 | 48 | 510498 | ZUEGER Cornel | 1981 | SUI | 1:31.80 | 30.14 |
| 42 | 45 | 510165 | HOFER Beni | 1978 | SUI | 1:31.81 | 30.26 |
| 43 | 43 | 191591 | BERTRAND Yannick | 1980 | FRA | 1:32.10 | 33.61 |
| 44 | 44 | 50695 | BUDER Andreas | 1979 | AUT | 1:32.15 | 34.18 |
| 45 | 36 | 50919 | STRUGER Peter | 1982 | AUT | 1:32.20 | 34.76 |
| 46 | 54 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:32.22 | 34.99 |
| 46 | 42 | 510207 | HARI Konrad | 1978 | SUI | 1:32.22 | 34.99 |
| 48 | 61 | 501324 | OLSSON Matts | 1988 | SWE | 1:32.23 | 35.11 |
| 48 | 32 | 190930 | DENERIAZ Antoine | 1976 | FRA | 1:32.23 | 35.11 |
| 50 | 51 | 201439 | STEHLE Johannes | 1981 | GER | 1:32.37 | 36.72 |
| 50 | 33 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 1:32.37 | 36.72 |
| 52 | 40 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:33.30 | 47.46 |
| 53 | 64 | 410252 | BRIDGWATER Mark | 1985 | NZE | 1:34.78 | 64.56 |
| 54 | 63 | 40324 | FETTERPLACE Brenton | 1985 | AUS | 1:35.09 | 68.14 |
 |
Did not start 1st run:
MICKEL Finlay (GBR), FISHER Erik (USA)
Did not finish 1st run:
OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel (CAN), BANK Ondrej (CZE), BRANCH Craig (AUS), WEIBRECHT Andrew (USA), BONETTI Michael (SUI), VARETTONI Silvano (ITA), BRAND Olivier (SUI), BUECHEL Marco (LIE)
THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment, Men's super G, Lake Louise, Nov. 25, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Raich, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
4 Jerman, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
5 Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Hoffmann, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
7 Kucera, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Hudec, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Gruber, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
Men's super G, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, Nov. 25, 2007. … It is the fourth of 41 events on the men's 2007-08 World Cup schedule. … It is the first of seven scheduled super G races. … The second of two men's races at Lake Louise. … and second of four World Cup races at Lake Louise this season. … It is the 63rd World Cup race held at Lake Louise. … the 22nd SG.
It is the ninth career World Cup win for Aksel Lund Svindal. … His third in super G. … It is his second SG win at Lake Louise having also claimed his first World Cup win at the site Nov. 27, 2005. … The only other Norwegian to have won at Lake Louise is Atle Skaardal (in DH March 15, 1991), the current FIS race director of the women's circuit.
It is the 68th career World Cup podium for Benjamin Raich. … His fourth in SG. … It is the second time he has finished second in SG at Lake Louise, having finished behind Svindal in the 2005 race.
It is the 31st career World Cup podium for Didier Cuche, his 13th in SG. … It is his second podium in SG at Lake Louise having also been third Dec. 1, 2002 behind Stephan Eberharter and Josef Strobl.
It was an excellent race for the homestanding Canadians with Erik Guay in fifth, John Kucera in seventh, Jan Hudec eighth and Francois Bourque in 21st. … It is the 11th top five finish for Guay, his fourth in super G. … It is the fifth top seven placing for Kucera's career, three of them coming at Lake Louise. … He won the SG Nov. 26, 2006 and was also seventh in the DH held yesterday. … It is the fourth top eight result for Jan Hudec among just 12 World Cup scoring results. … Three of his four top eights have come at Lake Louise having won the DH yesterday and also placing eighth Nov. 27, 2004 in DH. … It is his best career SG result, the previous best a 15th, accomplished twice, at Lake Louise Nov. 30, 2003 and at Val Gardena Dec. 15, 2006. … It is the 13th best career SG result for Bourque, his best a third at Garmisch Feb. 20, 2005.
Steven Nyman led the U.S. results in 13th place, Scott Macartney finished 17th and Bode Miller 25th. … TJ Lanning just missed points finishing 31st from the 55th start position. … Nyman matches his eighth best career finish. … It is his best Lake Louise result. … Macartney also matches his eighth best career finish and matches his third best in SG. … It is the 29th best SG result for Bode Miller. … It is his seventh best SG result at Lake Louise where he won Nov. 28, 2004.
The winning margin is .44 of a second. … Top 10 are within a second. … Top 32 within two seconds. … Svindal maintains the lead in the lead in the World Cup overall standings 234-166 over Benjamin Raich. … Kalle Palander (did not race) is third at 140. … Jan Hudec (eighth in race) is the to North American in fourth overall with 132pts. … Ted Ligety (did not race) and Marco Sullivan (35th in race) are the top U.S. skiers tied in eighth overall with 80pts. … Austrian men lead the Nations Cup standings 713-413 over Switzerland. … Italy is third at 336, the U.S. fourth at 297 and Canada fifth at 294.
About the Author: Pete Rugh
