Daron Rahlves achieved another dream

After celebrating a very emotional victory last season on the famous Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, California’s Daron Rahlves achieved another dream today in winning his first downhill on US soil.

Attacking as hard as possible, the 2001 Super-G World Champion dominated the rest of the field on the challenging “Birds of Prey” course and beat by 69/100 of a second the defending World Cup champion and winner here last year – Stephan Eberharter. Norway’s Bjarne Soelbaken confirmed his great form and his strong training times in clocking the same time as the Tyrolian while the 2003 downhill World Champion Michael Walchhofer was 4th.

The tall skier from Zauchensee, 1st and 2nd last weekend in Canada, took the lead in the overall World Cup standings after the crash of Bode Miller in the final part of the course. Bode was on his way to reach his first downhill podium when he lost his balance after a compression.
Fortunately, he didn’t injured himself yet he broke one of his skis.

Hermann Maier, who has been so successful here, was 5th – but he was aiming for more. He said that he lost too much time in the upper gliding section but added that he was also pleased to be again racing here. “I watched this race on TV last year and I was not 100% sure if I would ever be racing again here” he said with a smile. The 1999 double World Champion ended again ahead of Norway’s legendary Lasse Kjus, very consistent so far this season. With Hannes Trinkl 8th another former World Champion reached the top-10!

Neither France’s Antoine Deneriaz nor Canada’s Erik Guay confirmed their strong performances from Lake Louise – both finished in the middle of the pack far from the podium.

Daron on Miller footsteps

Daron Rahlves who has been one of the toughest rivals of the Austrian armada in the past years, imitated his teammate Miller with his first US World Cup win in the USA. He has been looking for this for a long time.
A promising 3rd here last year, Rahlves has become one of the best “fighters” on demanding courses as Beaver Creek, Bormio, Kitzbühel, Kvitfjell or Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

“I just like to attack the course as hard as possible, this is what makes downhill so exciting” he said. “To win here is unbelievable – it’s a highlight in my career. It’s the best way to promote our sport in the US too. My goal at the season start was to compete for the downhill Crystal Globe which has not been won by an American man. I’m back on track after my faux-pas in Canada”.

Daron will now try to become on of the few champions to win back to back downhill races. Another tough challenge for the American who has spent so much energy on the course today.

Manuèle Lang