Dec 5 : Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr won a weather-hit World Cup super-G race in Beaver Creek on Friday but admitted it felt a little hollow due to the more unfavourable conditions faced by later skiers as Swiss favourite Marco Odermatt only managed fifth.
Kriechmayr was one of the earliest starters after a delay and produced a superb run in poor visibility to take the lead before action was interrupted by snowfall and gusty winds following a nasty crash for Franjo von Allmen.
With 30 racers needed for a result it looked as though the 34-year-old’s leading time might be wiped off but with Swiss Von Allmen unscathed and organisers finding enough weather windows they managed to get 31 racers down before calling it off.
Kriechmayr clocked 1:06.77 to beat Norway’s Fredrik Moeller by 0.56 seconds with fellow Austrian Raphael Haaser third.
It was Kriechmayr’s second victory at Beaver Creek, having won the super-G there in 2017 for his first World Cup win.
“Of course my skiing was pretty good but it was pretty tough,” he said.
“The first 14 racers had similar conditions but after the break because of the crash and the weather it wasn’t very fair any more. You want similar conditions for everyone. I’m happy but I wanted to have a different sort of victory.”
It was the 19th World Cup win of Kriechmayr’s career, but he said it did not get any easier.
“It’s totally different to when I won the first time here,” he said. “It’s harder to find the limit and to push from the start to the end and I’m getting a lot of grey hair.”
Odermatt, the four-times reigning overall World Cup champion who won Thursday’s rescheduled downhill, could not add a fourth win of the season as his run appeared to be hampered by the fickle weather. He still leads the overall standings though.
