TORINO: Alpine: Aamodt defends Olympic title in weird double-take super G

TORINO: Alpine: Aamodt defends Olympic title in weird double-take super GSESTRIERE, Italy — The most unusual Olympic men’s super G ever ended up with a usual result on Saturday: a win by Kjetil Andre Aamodt.

The veteran Norwegian has now won half of the men’s gold medals in the event since it was added to the Olympic program in 1988. It is also his eighth alpine medal at the Winter Games.

‘I don’t feel like partying too much’ said Aamodt, who became a father last month, skipping Kitzbuehel to attend the birth. ‘I’m a father now, I need to be responsible.’

The 34-year-old won in 1 minute, 30.65 seconds, 0.13 ahead of Austrian Hermann Maier. Ambrosi Hoffmann of Switzerland took the bronze, 0.33 back.

Aamodt skied through the pain that kept him out of the combined earlier in the week. He strained ligaments in his left knee during the downhill Feb. 12.

‘I was just thrilled to be in the start today, just managing to ski’ said Aamodt. ‘When I kicked out of the start I felt a little pain in my knee. Maybe I was faster with injury than without. You don’t care too much and you just risk everything.’

Asked if he was considering retirement, Aamodt pointed out that he already had been considering it before he won the 2002 super G in Salt Lake City.

“Maybe I will fight it out with Hermann in 2014 in Salzburg,” Aamodt joked, naming Maier’s home state in Austria, which is bidding for the 2014 Games against South Korea and several other countries.

Reigning World Cup super G champion Bode Miller failed to finish after catching his tip on a gate, trailing his ski behind him as it bounced it on the snow — tip then tail, tip then tail, just like at Bormio last February, when he initiated his one-ski adventure in the combined. Miller stayed on his feet, waited on the hill and escaped from the media through a hole in the fencing.

Among Americans, Scott Macartney was seventh and Daron Rahlves ninth.

Canada’s Erik Guay got the wooden spoon award, finishing one-tenth off the podium in fourth place – a difference of just more than a ski length. ‘It’s probably going to haunt me until 2010’ said Guay, with a sportsmanlike grin. ‘It’s a tough position to be in, but I’ll get over it.’

Guay broke hearts from Whistler to Mont Tremblant when he pulled out of the downhill with a calf injury, depriving the Canadian team from its best hope for a speed-event medal.

The race originally started at 11 a.m. but was postponed after 17 racers due to bad weather that caused several racers, notably Lasse Kjus of Norway, to have terrible runs. Officials stopped the race after Swiss veteran Bruno Kernen, starting 17th, skidded off the course.

The jury ruled that racers who hadn’t gone down the course in the first 17 could have an opportunity for a “slide down inspection’ and that the race could begin again at racer No. 1 at 2:30 p.m. on the same course. The restart nullified the lead held by Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin of France.

In the restart, Dalcin went wide and missed a gate. He skied to the finish, shoulders slumped, then whipped around and made an obscene gesture with his finger as he looked up the course.

The unusual step of restarting a race may result in protests from some teams. “I’m sure that will be a point of contention, and there’s no easy way around it,” said U.S. men’s speed team coach John McBride.

‘It’s special, and it shouldn’t happen at the Olympics, but right now I don’t care because we got the gold’ said Aamodt’s teammate Bjarne Solbakken.

The last racer to go before the first race was canceled was Switzerland’s Kernen, who happens to have played a lead role in the controversy that erupted over the Dec. 2 super G at Beaver Creek, Colo. Kernen and several coaches complained vigorously about the decision to continue that race in similar conditions.

‘It’s an Olympic super G, and we had conditions worse than a regional race’ said Kernen on Saturday.

Maier’s coach, Andreas Evers, got to set the course after being selected in a special draw among World Cup coaches.

‘Perhaps now that I won the medal I have a better feeling for the next competition’ said Maier, who will race the men’s giant slalom on Monday.

There have been five super G races on the men’s World Cup tour so far this season. They were at Lake Louise, Canada (Nov. 26 winner: Aksel Lund Svindal); Beaver Creek, Colorado (Dec. 3 winner: Hannes Reichelt); Val Gardena, Italy (Dec. 17, winner: Hans Grugger); Kitzbuehel, Austria, (Jan. 20, winner: Hermann Maier); and Garmisch, Germany, (Jan. 29).

Super G was added to the Olympic program in 1988, when Franck Piccard of France won at Calgary. Aamodt won the gold in the next one in Albertville in 1992. The next three wins came from Markus Wasmeier of Germany (Lillehammer, 1994), Maier of Austria (Nagano, 1998) and Aamodt again at Salt Lake City in 2002.

XX Winter Olympics
Men’s super G
Sestriere, Italy
Feb. 18, 2006
1. Kjetil Andre Aamodt, NOR 1:30.65
2. Hermann Maier, AUT 1:30.78
3. Ambrosi Hoffmann, SUI 1:30.98
4. Erik Guay, CAN 1:31.08
5. Aksel Lund Svindal, NOR 1:31.10
6. Marco Buechel, LIE 1:31.22
7. Scott Macartney, USA 1:31.23
8. Francois Bourque, CAN 1:31.27
9. Daron Rahlves, USA 1:31.37
10. Hannes Reichelt, AUT 1:31.39
11. Antoine Deneriaz, FRA 1:31.49
12. Didier Cuche, SUI 1:31.50
13. Peter Fill, ITA 1:31.54
14. Lasse Kjus, NOR 1:31.79
15. Andrej Sporn, SLO 1:31.84
16. Didier Defago, SUI 1:31.90
17. Patrick Staudacher, ITA 1:31.91
18. Bruno Kernen, SUI 1:31.95
19. Christoph Gruber, AUT 1:32.00
20. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, CAN 1:32.02
21. Benjamin Raich, AUT 1:32.05
22. John Kucera, CAN 1:32.10
22. Finlay Mickel, GBR 1:32.10
24. Patrick Jaerbyn, SWE 1:32.21
24. Yannick Bertrand, FRA 1:32.21
26. Bjarne Solbakken, NOR 1:32.90
27. Andrej Jerman, SLO 1:33.20
28. Pavel Chestakov, RUS 1:33.48
28. Massimiliano Blardone, ITA 1:33.48
30. Ivica Kostelic, CRO 1:33.53
31. Petr Zahrobsky, CZE 1:33.70
32. Krystof Kryzl, CZE 1:34.20
33. Natko Zrncic-Dim, CRO 1:34.49
34. Ivan Ratkic, CRO 1:34.77
35. Roger Cruickshank, GBR 1:34.87
36. Martin Vrablik, CZE 1:34.90
37. Gauthier DeTessieres, FRA 1:34.94
38. Anton Konovalov, RUS 1:35.72
39. Steven Nyman, USA 1:36.22
40. Ivan Heimschild, SVK 1:36.58
Other skiers:
AJ Bear, AUS; Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin, FRA; Bode Miller, USA; Claudio Sprecher, LIE; Andrej Bank, CZE

THE SCOOP

Equipment
Men’s super G, Sestriere, Feb. 18, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/binding
1. Aamodt, Dynastar/Lange/Tyrolia
2. Maier, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Hoffmann, Stoeckli/Atomic/Atomic
4. Guay, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5. Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
7. Macartney, Salomon/Salom
on/Salomon
8. Bourque, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9. Rahlves, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10. Reichelt, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

XX Winter Olympics – men’s super G Sestriere-Borgata, Feb. 18, 2006
It is the fourth completed event of the 10-event Olympic alpine schedule. … The third for men.

It is the first win of the season for Kjetil Andre Aamodt. … It is his 16th career Olympic result. … His second of the XX Games. … He was previously fourth in DH. … It is his eighth Olympic medal, extending his alpine record. … It is his fourth gold medal. … An Olympic alpine record moving him out of a tie with Jean-Claude Killy, Anton Sailer and Alberto Tomba among men, Vreni Schneider, Janica Kostelic, Deborah Compagnoni and Katja Seizinger among women. … (Kostelic won a fourth gold medal later in the day to join him as the only two alpine skiers with four gold medals). … It is the eighth gold medal for Norway and the third in super G. … All three won by Aamodt (’92, 2002 and 2006).

It is the fourth podium result of the season for Hermann Maier, the first of these Olympic Games (he was previously sixth in DH). … It is his third Olympic medal, the other two gold (SG & GS 1998). … It is the 89th alpine Olympic medal for Austria and the fourth of these Games, the second silver.

It is the second podium result of the season for Ambrosi Hoffmann. … It is his first Olympic medal. … The 53rd for Switzerland and the third for Switzerland at these Games. … It is the third Olympic medal for a Swiss in super G.

It is the fourth top-four placing of the season for Eric Guay. … It is his first Olympic result. … He is the fourth Canadian, and first Canadian male, to finish fourth in an Olympic race. … Only Karen Percy (bronze 1988) has a better Olympic SG result among Canadians. .. Seventh matches the second-best result of the season for Scott Macartney. … The result matches Daron Rahlves for the fourth-best Olympic SG result by an American. … It is the fourth-best result of the season but best in SG for Francois Bourque. … It is his third Olympic result of these Games, having placed 16th in DH and 21st in CMB. … It is the 10th-best result of the season for Daron Rahlves. … Fourth-best in SG. … It is his third-best Olympic SG result (was seventh in ’98 and eighth in 2002) and his sixth completed Olympic race. …It is the fifth-best result of the season for Manuel Osborne-Paradis. … It is his second career Olympic result and second of these Games, having previously finished 13th in DH. … It is the fourth-best result of the season for John Kucera. … The best of the season in an event other than combined. … It is his third Olympic result, all from these Games. … He was previously 27th in DH and 17th in CMB. … It is the third result of these Games for Steven Nyman. … He was previously 19th in DH and 29th in CMB. … It is the second uncompleted event of these Games for Bode Miller. … He was previously fifth in DH and a DSQ in CMB.