WENGEN 2005: Daron Rahlves will skip Lauberhorn downhill

By Published On: January 14th, 2005Comments Off on WENGEN 2005: Daron Rahlves will skip Lauberhorn downhill

WENGEN 2005: Daron Rahlves will skip Lauberhorn downhillDaron Rahlves, the winningest downhiller in American ski racing history, has decided to skip the famed Lauberhorn downhill tomorrow. “He can’t even get his foot in a boot,” said John McBride, the head coach of the U.S. men’s speed team, before pulling Rahlves’s name off the list of racers competing in the race.

Rahlves crashed hard on Tuesday in the giant slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, and is bruised all over his lower body. Especially bad are his shins.

Ed Warner, a resourceful reader of this website, found a video clip of Rahlves’s crash online, and alerted us to it. Click here to view the clip. You will have to click on the words “Sur ce sujet” and wait through most of the clip.

THIS IS FAST…
The fastest skiing today was done by someone who was nowhere near the top of the results. Stefan Johann Thanei of Italy hit 97.53 miles per hour in a speed trap near the bottom of the course. That was even faster than Michael Walchhofer of Austria went as he won the downhill portion of the “Super Combi” today (he hiked in the slalom, so was nowhere near Benni Raich in the “Super Combi” results).

Immediately following the “Super Combi,” there was a second training run. The winner of that sprint was Bode Miller of the United States.

In other news…
Bode Miller won a final training run on the Wengen downhill course today…Benjamin Raich announced he’ll skip the downhill (the longest on the tour) so that he can rest for the slalom on Sunday, and the Kitzbuehel races next week…Bjarne Solbakken will race tomorrow, despite a hard crash in today’s “Super Combi”…Paul McDonald of Dartmouth College was recently invited to race Europa Cup and World Cup, and will start in Sunday’s slalom here at Wengen — his second-ever race in Europe…Chip Knight has switched from Elan to Fischer skis.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh