Lasse Kjus was patient.

Eight years after his only World Cup win in Super-G, Norway's Lasse Kjus returned to top spot with an impressive victory in the Italian Dolomites on Friday and said he was elated to be back among the elite racers in the sport. In fact he beat two of the greatest champions on the tour, both former overall World Cup champions and multiple gold medal winners.
"It has been a long time without such a great result and this feels good," said 32-year-old Kjus after beating Austrians Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier to capture his first World Cup race for many years. The Scandinavian has not enjoyed such a success since winning a combined at Kitzbühel in 2001 and was without victory in a downhill World Cup race since Sierra Nevada in the 1999 season.
In the meantime, Maier and Eberharter have accumulated triumphs and medals. Both dominated the Super-G World Cup standings since 1998 and Eberharter is the reigning World Champion in the specialty!

A brilliant comeback

Lasse Kjus could not dream of a more brilliant comeback at the top after all these years of struggling and doubt. In reality, it has been a sharp slump in form for the Norwegian who was at his peak in 1999 when he won two gold medals and three silver at the FIS World Championships in Vail/ Beaver Creek. He clinched a few medals afterwards in 2002 and 2003 but he was no longer the top-contender who cruised almost perfectly down the most treacherous slopes.

Respiration problems and sinusitis hampered his training and his racing in the early 2000’s and more than once, he had to pull out of the competitions because he was in his bed with fever or a bad cold. He skipped most of the races during the 1999/2000 season, finishing the overall standings at a distant 53rd place!

Kjus admitted that at times he had been close to losing faith in his ability to regain his status in skiing. "I had my doubts two years ago and also last season," he told the press, "I started to doubt if I had what it takes to ski at the highest level. I was struggling with all the small things. I couldn't find my position and everything was just a struggle. I was searching for solutions and this year the small things started to come right and all the pieces came together - it is working again," he added.

Strong in all the speed disciplines and in giant slalom, Kjus was overall World Cup champion in 1996 and in 1999. That year he also became the only man to win medals in all five Alpine disciplines, tying for first place in super-G with Maier.

But Kjus, who has a record 11 world championships medals, says it is too soon to start thinking about winning a third overall World Cup title.

Kjus feels confident

"I'm just glad to be back and am not aiming that high at the moment," he said. "The important thing is to ski fast. I have had a good start this season with many top-10 finished. I am gaining confidence slowly and now I have less respect for the courses. I can attack them with more aggressiveness. I hope I continue like this throughout the season and lift myself up to a level where I can perform in a consistent way. I kept on going and I tried. Now it is payback time," he added with a grin.

On the bumpy and technically demanding “Saslong” course at Val Gardena, Kjus delivered a perfect high-speed performance in the face of the always competitive Austrian squad and credited his win to his positive approach.
"In Beaver Creek I was not far away from the podium but I was a chicken," he said, "Today I was really aggressive but I still tried to keep control. I didn't expect to be so fast, especially in the turns. It is great to be ahead of Maier and Eberharter who have dominated the event for so long."
Lasse, who has reached the podium in most medal events since 1993, when he became combined World Champion in Morioka, Japan, had to wait until December 1995 to celebrate his first World Cup victory in Vail, Colorado, after having amassed a nice collections of 2nd and 3rd places. From then on, he was almost irresistible until a bad crash in Kitzbühel during a training run. It was a horrendous fall which forced him to rest for several weeks. His comeback in Sierra Nevada during the FIS World’s was discrete – only 2nd place in combined and a couple of 4th places in downhill and giant slalom.

Days of triumph and shadow

He reached more silver in 1997 at Sestrière and in 1998 in Nagano, but he could not challenge France’s Luc Alphand or Hermann Maier and Andreas Schifferer in downhill and in the overall World Cup standings.

Then suddenly he was back in December 1998 – enjoying one win after the other on the demanding “Classics” as Val d’Isère, Gardena, Kitzbühel or Wengen. His triumphs in Colorado during the 1999 Worlds were more than remarkable – really historical with five medals in five events!

His sickness prevented him to stay on the same level in the following seasons and his changed from Atomic to Dynastar in summer 2002. Quite a challenge for the French Ski Producer who has not been at the top in the speed events since the years of Marc Girardelli and Kjetil Aamodt in the early 1990’s. “Lasse needed some time to find his rhythm and his momentum with us, but last summer he really worked hard” said racing manager Michel Vion, himself a combined World Champion in 1982 at Schladming and a former Alpine Director in the French Ski Team. “He brought us a nice silver medal in combined at St Moritz and then things started to improve. He is a remarkable tuner and one of the most sensitive skiers on the tour”.

Patrick Lang