With Kvitfjell win, Reichelt threatens downhill title
In the second-to-last downhill of the season, the Norwegian fans had hoped to see local favorite Kjetil Jansrud lock up his first career discipline title on the Olympiabakken track in Kvitfjell. Instead, the chase – now tighter than ever – heads to Meribel, France, as Jansrud slipped to a slim 20-point advantage over Austrian Hannes Reichelt, who earned his third World Cup win of the season Saturday.
Due to wind and some fog up top, the men again raced on a shortened course — their third sprint downhill this year. Warm weather made for soft, inconsistent conditions on the track. Despite the lowered start, however, racers were reaching high speeds, over 150 kilometers per hour as they approached the finish line. Ultimately, Reichelt finished with the winning time of 1 minute, 29.65 seconds ahead of Canada’s Manny Osborne-Paridis and Germany’s Werner Heel.
At the final split, Reichelt was 0.12 seconds behind the pace of then-leader Heel, who wore bib 1. The Austrian, Reichelt, clearly had been generating speed, however, picking up a half-second on the fast, final gliding section into the finish.
“I’m not a machine. It’s just running really good at the moment, like Kjetil had at the beginning of the season,” said Reichelt after the win. “Hopefully I can bring the flow to Meribel to keep a chance for the globe. When you have a goal in sight, you do everything to try and achieve that goal. Hopefully I have a chance to make it exciting.”
Jansrud skied a clean run but like many of the racers experienced difficulties with the soft conditions, the snow breaking from under his skis. The Norwegian finished sixth on the day, picking up 36 World Cup points. Jansrud now trails Marcel Hirscher in the overall by 152 points with the calendar favoring the tech specialist for the remainder of the season.
For Osborne-Paridis, it’s been an admittedly lackluster season bookended by a pair of podiums — the other came in Lake Louise in November. The Canadian recently downsized his boots, which resulted in some added confidence and stability in the soft snow, he said.
“Pretty sweet way to end such a terrible season,” said Osborne-Paridis. “Now it’s not so terrible. I’ve been talking with my coaches, having a really tough time getting over not being 100 percent. The last two races I’ve been kind of feeling normal. … On our team, we have a theory if you’re over 30 and out of the 30, you should go get a real job, so I’m glad I was able to step up my game.”
With recent results north of the top 30, Heel had fallen off the radar coming into these races. But with positive memories on the hill — he won in 2008 — and strong performances in training, the Italian was able to land his first podium since 2013.
“I love this course. I had my first victory here in 2008 and I’m back to the podium here in downhill,” said Heel. “I’m not sure what changed for me here in Kvitfjell. When you have a course that you have good memories, it’s always cool. The last month, I was very down. I came back here and had a good feeling in the first training run and I’m happy I was able to bring it on race day.”
It was a strong day for the Americans with Travis Ganong in sixth leading the U.S. team at the site which produced his first-career World Cup podium a year ago. Ganong hyperextended his right knee in the final day of training Friday. He woke up feeling sore but wrapped it up and popped some Advil, which did the trick, he said.
“It’s so windy today. You don’t really know what you’re going to do. You just have to put your head down, ski as hard as you can and look for aerodynamics,” Ganong said. “We just try to adapt to the conditions. You have an idea what it will be like from the day before but you just have to trust your instincts.”
Finishing 12th, Marco Sullivan was one of four Americans in the top 15, along with Ganong, Andrew Weibrecht in 12th and Jared Goldberg in 15th.
“Our team actually had a good day, nothing at the very top but some strong results,” said Sullivan. “It was crazy how much the snow changed from the past couple days. … Personally, I wish the season would keep going. I’m just starting to heat up. I’ve had some good results the last three weeks, so I’ll take this fire into the summer, train hard and come out strong next year.”
After laying down the fastest final training run on Friday, Steven Nyman was disappointed to finish 25th on race day.
“I thought I skied pretty well, bummed I didn’t do what I wanted to do,” said Nyman. “There were a couple places where I opened up where I shouldn’t have. This hill is that way. There aren’t a lot of places to make up speed. … The snow changed too. It got really soft and sloppy. I like snow I can feel under my foot.”
The men continue racing in Kvitfjell on Sunday with a super G scheduled for 10:45 a.m. CET.
The Scoop
By Hank McKee
- Reichelt, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
- Osborne-Paradis, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
- Heel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Fayed, Head/Head/Head
- Kueng, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
- Ganong, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Jansrud, Head/Head/Head
- Streitberger, Head/Head/Head
- Paris, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
- Baumann, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
Men’s World Cup downhill, Kvitjell, Norway, March 7, 2015:
- It is the 29th of 38 races in the men’s calendar … the eighth of ten scheduled downhills. … It is the 58th World Cup race hosted at Kvitfjell … the 28th downhill. … Erik Guay won the most recent DH at the site, March 1 last season. Georg Streitberger and Kjetil Jansrud also won downhills at Kvitfjell last season. … Jury elects to lower start due to fog high on the course.
- It is the 11th career World Cup victory for Hannes Reichelt. … It is his fifth win of the season including the super G gold medal at World Championships. … The winning margin is .30 of a second. … Top 21 skiers are within the same second.
- It is the 11th career World Cup podium placing for Manuel Osborne-Paradis. … It is his third career podium at Kvitfjell after winning the March 6, 2009 DH and finishing third in the March 7, 2009 DH. … It is his second podium of the season having also placed second in the DH opener at Lake Louise Nov. 29.
- It is the tenth career World Cup podium for Werner Heel. … It is his first podium since March 3, 2013, also at Kvitfjell.
- Travis Ganong matches his fifth best career placing. … It is his third best finish at Kvitfjell … and fourth best of the season including a silver medal from World Championships. … It is the fourth best career World Cup DH result for Andrew Weibrecht and his best World Cup DH finish of the season, though he did place better at Worlds. … It is the 15th best Cup DH result for Marco Sullivan and his third best World Cup DH finish of the season. … Jared Goldberg matches his fourth best career World Cup finish in any discipline, his second best in DH. … He matches his best finish of the season, from the Lauberhorn combined. … Ben Thomsen tallies his second best result at Kvitfjell … and matches his second best DH finish of the season.
- Marcel Hirscher (did not race) maintains control of the World Cup overall standings 1128-940 over Kjetil Jansrud (seventh in race) … Alexis Pinturault (did not race) is third overall with 744pts. … Ted Ligety (did not race) is the top U.S. skier in tenth with 470pts.
- Jansrud holds the lead of the downhill standings 505-485 over Reichelt. … Dominik Paris (ninth in race) is third in the downhill standings with 386pts.
- With one race remaining, the downhill title is between Jansrud and Reichelt.
Results
1 | 20 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | 1:29.65 | 0.00 | |||
2 | 28 | 102899 | OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel | 1984 | CAN | 1:29.95 | +0.30 | 4.18 | ||
3 | 1 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:30.03 | +0.38 | 5.30 | ||
4 | 22 | 192932 | FAYED Guillermo | 1985 | FRA | 1:30.05 | +0.40 | 5.58 | ||
5 | 17 | 511139 | KUENG Patrick | 1984 | SUI | 1:30.06 | +0.41 | 5.72 | ||
6 | 15 | 530874 | GANONG Travis | 1988 | USA | 1:30.13 | +0.48 | 6.69 | ||
7 | 16 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:30.19 | +0.54 | 7.53 | ||
8 | 26 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:30.22 | +0.57 | 7.95 | ||
9 | 21 | 291459 | PARIS Dominik | 1989 | ITA | 1:30.25 | +0.60 | 8.37 | ||
10 | 14 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:30.27 | +0.62 | 8.64 | ||
11 | 3 | 50753 | KROELL Klaus | 1980 | AUT | 1:30.28 | +0.63 | 8.78 | ||
12 | 34 | 530939 | WEIBRECHT Andrew | 1986 | USA | 1:30.29 | +0.64 | 8.92 | ||
12 | 25 | 53980 | KRIECHMAYR Vincent | 1991 | AUT | 1:30.29 | +0.64 | 8.92 | ||
12 | 23 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | 1:30.29 | +0.64 | 8.92 | ||
15 | 37 | 934643 | GOLDBERG Jared | 1991 | USA | 1:30.39 | +0.74 | 10.32 | ||
16 | 18 | 511383 | FEUZ Beat | 1987 | SUI | 1:30.40 | +0.75 | 10.46 | ||
17 | 6 | 103271 | THOMSEN Benjamin | 1987 | CAN | 1:30.41 | +0.76 | 10.60 | ||
18 | 8 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:30.43 | +0.78 | 10.88 | ||
19 | 19 | 53902 | MAYER Matthias | 1990 | AUT | 1:30.46 | +0.81 | 11.29 | ||
20 | 11 | 53817 | FRANZ Max | 1989 | AUT | 1:30.55 | +0.90 | 12.55 | ||
21 | 51 | 990081 | CASSE Mattia | 1990 | ITA | 1:30.56 | +0.91 | 12.69 | ||
22 | 42 | 53936 | DUERAGER Markus | 1990 | AUT | 1:30.59 | +0.94 | 13.11 | ||
23 | 29 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:30.73 | +1.08 | 15.06 | ||
23 | 2 | 202059 | FERSTL Josef | 1988 | GER | 1:30.73 | +1.08 | 15.06 | ||
25 | 9 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 1:30.74 | +1.09 | 15.20 | ||
26 | 27 | 194167 | MUZATON Maxence | 1990 | FRA | 1:30.78 | +1.13 | 15.76 | ||
26 | 12 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:30.78 | +1.13 | 15.76 | ||
28 | 47 | 561216 | KLINE Bostjan | 1991 | SLO | 1:30.80 | +1.15 | 16.03 | ||
28 | 30 | 294277 | KLOTZ Siegmar | 1987 | ITA | 1:30.80 | +1.15 | 16.03 | ||
30 | 52 | 511808 | SCHMED Fernando | 1991 | SUI | 1:30.88 | +1.23 | 17.15 | ||
31 | 49 | 930024 | MAPLE Wiley | 1990 | USA | 1:30.91 | +1.26 | 17.57 | ||
32 | 38 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:30.92 | +1.27 | 17.71 | ||
33 | 5 | 293141 | VARETTONI Silvano | 1984 | ITA | 1:31.00 | +1.35 | 18.82 | ||
34 | 10 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:31.05 | +1.40 | 19.52 | ||
35 | 33 | 511847 | MANI Nils | 1992 | SUI | 1:31.09 | +1.44 | 20.08 | ||
36 | 4 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:31.16 | +1.51 | 21.05 | ||
37 | 13 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:31.18 | +1.53 | 21.33 | ||
38 | 32 | 511981 | WEBER Ralph | 1993 | SUI | 1:31.19 | +1.54 | 21.47 | ||
39 | 46 | 200379 | SANDER Andreas | 1989 | GER | 1:31.20 | +1.55 | 21.61 | ||
40 | 45 | 202196 | BRANDNER Klaus | 1990 | GER | 1:31.24 | +1.59 | 22.17 | ||
41 | 48 | 194190 | ROGER Brice | 1990 | FRA | 1:31.26 | +1.61 | 22.45 | ||
42 | 24 | 54005 | STRIEDINGER Otmar | 1991 | AUT | 1:31.32 | +1.67 | 23.28 | ||
43 | 31 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:31.35 | +1.70 | 23.70 | ||
44 | 44 | 194298 | GIEZENDANNER Blaise | 1991 | FRA | 1:31.37 | +1.72 | 23.98 | ||
45 | 39 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:31.44 | +1.79 | 24.96 | ||
46 | 36 | 511513 | CAVIEZEL Mauro | 1988 | SUI | 1:31.49 | +1.84 | 25.66 | ||
47 | 50 | 293550 | MARSAGLIA Matteo | 1985 | ITA | 1:31.50 | +1.85 | 25.79 | ||
48 | 35 | 103612 | PRIDY Morgan | 1990 | CAN | 1:31.54 | +1.89 | 26.35 | ||
49 | 7 | 191964 | POISSON David | 1982 | FRA | 1:31.61 | +1.96 | 27.33 | ||
50 | 41 | 6530104 | BENNETT Bryce | 1992 | USA | 1:31.79 | +2.14 | 29.84 | ||
51 | 54 | 6291029 | BATTILANI Henri | 1994 | ITA | 1:32.10 | +2.45 | 34.16 | ||
52 | 58 | 20324 | OLIVERAS Marc | 1991 | AND | 1:32.35 | +2.70 | 37.65 | ||
53 | 59 | 170131 | FAARUP Christoffer | 1992 | DAN | 1:32.37 | +2.72 | 37.93 | ||
54 | 43 | 481705 | GLEBOV Alexander | 1983 | RUS | 1:32.42 | +2.77 | 38.62 | ||
55 | 55 | 6290985 | BUZZI Emanuele | 1994 | ITA | 1:32.65 | +3.00 | 41.83 | ||
56 | 57 | 104096 | THOMPSON Broderick | 1994 | CAN | 1:32.66 | +3.01 | 41.97 | ||
Did not start 1st run | ||||||||||
40 | 100558 | COOK Dustin | 1989 | CAN | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
56 | 202469 | RENZ Fabio | 1992 | GER | ||||||
53 | 422139 | KILDE Aleksander Aamodt | 1992 | NOR |