Beaver Creek: Walchhofer ends U.S. DH wins streak
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Austrian Michael Walchhofer ended a four-year win streak by Americans in the Birds of Prey Downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., Friday (Nov. 30), but it was far from easy.
As a much needed early season snowfall challenged visibility and forced a lowered start on one of the more difficult downhill tracks in the world, U.S. skier Steven Nyman made good on a vow to perform and put down a fabulous run for a time of 1 minute, 13.79 seconds. Only Walchhofer, the tour's downhill title winner in both 2005 and 2006, could best Nyman's time, just squeezing in front by .05 of a second. Running eight bibs later than Nyman, Walchhofer benefited from clearing weather, having considerably better visibility for his run down a track he has raced annually for six years.
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Austrian Michael Walchhofer ended a four-year win streak by Americans in the Birds of Prey Downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., Friday (Nov. 30), but it was far from easy.
As a much needed early season snowfall challenged visibility and forced a lowered start on one of the more difficult downhill tracks in the world, U.S. skier Steven Nyman made good on a vow to perform and put down a fabulous run for a time of 1 minute, 13.79 seconds. Only Walchhofer, the tour's downhill title winner in both 2005 and 2006, could best Nyman's time, just squeezing in front by 0.05 of a second. Running eight bibs later than Nyman, Walchhofer benefited from clearing weather, having considerably better visibility for his run down a track he has raced annually for six years.
Claiming third on the day was Didier Cuche of Switzerland, the winner of the downhill leg of the combined held here yesterday, and a pre-race favorite. Fellow Swiss Didier Defago, skiing – like Nyman – in the thick of the storm, held on for fourth place.
Bode Miller survived a severe error high on the course that nearly pushed him off course and caused him to touch a hip to the snow to claim sixth just behind Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein.
"It's not a very good result for me here on this hill," said Miller who won here in 2004 and 2006 and finished second in 2005. "I almost fell on my head out of the start when my pole slipped… It was just bad luck. Usually I make a lot of time out of the start on these guys, so that cost me a lot. And then I go on my hip in the Talon turn. That's the end of your chances to win… I took huge risks after that and skied pretty well, but there's not a whole lot of time to try to pull the race back in."
Nyman, too, felt a change in luck might have gotten him his second World Cup win
"I hit what I wanted to hit and did what I wanted to do, made the turns that I wanted to," he said in the finish while the race continued behind him. "There is always a little luck involved. I had the bad weather and some fresh snow. It's going to be a little better for these boys." Didier Cuche, in bib 22, then crossed the finish line, .05 behind Nyman in third place.
Gaining crowd approval for the run of the day was Andrew Wiebrecht who roared through the course, after the strength of the falling snow renewed, to claim tenth from the 53rd start. Always punching forward and reminiscent of Hermann Maier in his best years on this same course, Weibrecht was seeking speed and remained aggressive throughout his run. Ironically, his run bumped Maier out of the top 10.
THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Men's downhill, Beaver Creek, Nov. 30, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Walchhofer, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Nyman, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Cuche, Head/Head/Tyrolia
4 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
5 Buechel, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
6 Miller, Head/Head/Tyrolia
7 Fill, Dynastar/Lange/Look
8 Scheiber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Sulzenbacher, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
10 Wiebrecht, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
Men's Downhill, Beaver Creek, Colo., Nov. 30, 2007. … It is the sixth of the 41 events on the men's 2007-08 World Cup schedule. … the second of 10 scheduled downhills. … It is the second of a four race set at Beaver Creek with a super G and GS yet to be contested. … It is the 31st World Cup race held at Beaver Creek, and the 13th Cup downhill. … Race held in falling snow on a shortened course.
It is the 12th career World Cup win for Michael Walchhofer. … His ninth in DH. … It is his first since Dec. 29, 2006, at Bormio. … It is his first win at Beaver Creek, though he was second Dec. 7, 2003 and third Dec. 3, 2004. … He has hit for the cycle at Beaver Creek with finishes of first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. … It is the first win of the season for the Austrian men.
It is the third career World Cup podium for Steven Nyman, all in downhill. … He won at Val Gardena Dec. 16, 2006 and was third at Beaver Creek Dec. 1, 2006. … He has placed in the top 10 in six of his 28 scoring finishes.
It is the 32nd career World Cup podium for Didier Cuche. … His 14th in DH. … It is his third podium result at Beaver Creek having won the super G Dec. 8, 2002, and placing second in DH Dec. 1, 2006.
It is the sixth scoring result in six races this season for Bode Miller. … It is his third best finish of the season after a fourth in the Beaver Creek combined Nov. 29 and a fifth in GS at Soelden Oct. 28. … It is the eighth time Miller has tallied a top six result at Beaver Creek, including three wins. …Tenth is the second career World Cup scoring result for Andrew Weibrecht. … And his second in two days having placed 14th in the combined. … He started 53rd. … His placing represents the 13th top 10 result for the U.S. team this season. … 15th is the third best result at Beaver Creek for Erik Guay and his second best DH finish behind a sixth Dec. 2, 2005. … 17th matches the eighth best career World Cup result for Jan Hudec. … It is his third best of three results this season having won the Lake Louise DH Nov. 24 and placing eighth in the SG Nov. 25. … Scott Macartney matches his 13th best career result in 20th.
Aksel Lund Svindal maintains the overall standings lead – despite being in the hospital – 234-178 over Benjamin Raich (19th in race). … Didier Cuche is third at 175. … Bode Miller leads all North Americans in fourth at 157 overall. … Jan Hudec of Canada is fifth at 146. … Walchhofer takes over control of the DH standings 118-114 over Hudec. … Steven Nyman is third at 96 and Marco Sullivan fourth with 80pts.
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 16 | 50041 | WALCHHOFER Michael | 1975 | AUT | 1:13.74 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 8 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 1:13.79 | 0.92 |
| 3 | 22 | 510030 | CUCHE Didier | 1974 | SUI | 1:13.84 | 1.83 |
| 4 | 2 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:13.93 | 3.48 |
| 5 | 20 | 350032 | BUECHEL Marco | 1971 | LIE | 1:13.94 | 3.66 |
| 6 | 21 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:14.10 | 6.59 |
| 7 | 17 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:14.12 | 6.96 |
| 8 | 15 | 51005 | SCHEIBER Mario | 1983 | AUT | 1:14.13 | 7.14 |
| 9 | 6 | 291641 | SULZENBACHER Kurt | 1976 | ITA | 1:14.27 | 9.70 |
| 10 | 53 | 530939 | WEIBRECHT Andrew | 1986 | USA | 1:14.28 | 9.89 |
| 11 | 11 | 50423 | MAIER Hermann | 1972 | AUT | 1:14.30 | 10.25 |
| 12 | 18 | 560332 | JERMAN Andrej | 1978 | SLO | 1:14.39 | 11.90 |
| 13 | 1 | 102873 | KUCERA John | 1984 | CAN | 1:14.48 | 13.55 |
| 14 | 13 | 510767 | HOFFMANN Ambrosi | 1977 | SUI | 1:14.50 | 13.91 |
| 15 | 19 | 102263 | GUAY Erik | 1981 | CAN | 1:14.54 | 14.65 |
| 16 | 29 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:14.55 | 14.83 |
| 17 | 10 | 102271 | HUDEC Jan | 1981 | CAN | 1:14.59 | 15.56 |
| 18 | 14 | 191116 | DALCIN Pierre-Emmanuel | 1977 | FRA | 1:14.74 | 18.31 |
| 19 | 31 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 1:14.76 | 18.67 |
| 20 | 24 | 532490 | MACARTNEY Scott | 1978 | USA | 1:14.79 | 19.22 |
| 21 | 44 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | 1:14.80 | 19.41 |
| 22 | 4 | 510993 | ALBRECHT Daniel | 1983 | SUI | 1:14.86 | 20.50 |
| 23 | 9 | 50451 | GRUBER Christoph | 1976 | AUT | 1:14.94 | 21.97 |
| 24 | 55 | 201439 | STEHLE Johannes | 1981 | GER | 1:15.05 | 23.98 |
| 24 | 28 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:15.05 | 23.98 |
| 26 | 56 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:15.07 | 24.35 |
| 27 | 35 | 191964 | POISSON David | 1982 | FRA | 1:15.09 | 24.72 |
| 28 | 34 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:15.12 | 25.26 |
| 29 | 36 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 1:15.16 | 26.00 |
| 30 | 30 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:15.31 | 28.74 |
| 31 | 41 | 201606 | KEPPLER Stephan | 1983 | GER | 1:15.33 | 29.11 |
| 31 | 37 | 291399 | GIRARDI Walter | 1976 | ITA | 1:15.33 | 29.11 |
| 33 | 54 | 150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | 1:15.40 | 30.39 |
| 33 | 47 | 40171 | BRANCH Craig | 1977 | AUS | 1:15.40 | 30.39 |
| 35 | 33 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:15.42 | 30.76 |
| 36 | 42 | 191911 | NOCENTI Cyril | 1982 | FRA | 1:15.59 | 33.87 |
| 37 | 5 | 191415 | BOTTOLLIER-LASQUIN Marc | 1979 | FRA | 1:15.62 | 34.42 |
| 38 | 7 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:15.69 | 35.70 |
| 39 | 32 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:15.72 | 36.25 |
| 40 | 25 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | 1:15.75 | 36.80 |
| 41 | 51 | 102947 | SINE Gareth | 1985 | CAN | 1:15.86 | 38.81 |
| 42 | 40 | 192932 | FAYED Guillermo | 1985 | FRA | 1:15.91 | 39.73 |
| 43 | 39 | 102814 | BOURQUE Francois | 1984 | CAN | 1:15.92 | 39.91 |
| 44 | 58 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:16.29 | 46.68 |
| 45 | 57 | 510207 | HARI Konrad | 1978 | SUI | 1:16.33 | 47.42 |
| 46 | 60 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:16.34 | 47.60 |
| 47 | 45 | 191462 | PAQUIN Pierre | 1979 | FRA | 1:16.40 | 48.70 |
| 48 | 43 | 220228 | MICKEL Finlay | 1977 | GBR | 1:16.57 | 51.81 |
| 49 | 46 | 291389 | FISCHNALLER Roland | 1975 | ITA | 1:16.75 | 55.11 |
| 50 | 12 | 102899 | OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel | 1984 | CAN | 1:17.94 | 76.89 |
 |
| Official timekeeper |
Did not finish 1st run : DIXON Robbie (CAN), SOLBAKKEN Bjarne (NOR), LANNING Thomas (tj) (USA), VARETTONI Silvano (ITA), THANEI Stefan (ITA), ALSTER Christoph (AUT), ZUEGER Cornel (SUI), HOFER Beni (SUI), GRUENENFELDER Tobias (SUI), BERTRAND Yannick (FRA), STAUDACHER Patrick (ITA).
Disqualified 1st run : KROELL Klaus (AUT)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
