St Moritz, men’s Super-G

Fourth gold medal for Stephan Eberharter

The first event of the St Moritz World Championships ended for once with the victory of the top-favorite, Stephan Eberharter who dominating the speed events in the last two years. The Austrian perfectly handled the pressure and the expectations to clinch his fourth gold medal in the exciting Super-G raced on a perfectly prepared course.

The 1991 Super-G World Champion in Saalbach, Austria, beat by 77/100 of a second two other great champions, Hermann Maier and Bode Miller, who clocked the exact same time at the end of the technically very demanding course.
The 33-year-old Tyrolian achieved an almost perfect run in the lower part of the run where he gained almost a second on all this rivals.
This season, he won the won Super-G race in Lake Louise and was 3rd last week in Kitzbühel.

Switzerland’s Ambrosi Hoffmann was the best of a disappointing Swiss team in 4th place, only 4/100 away from the podium.
His colleagues Didier Cuche, the leader in the World Cup standings, and Didier Defago, winner in Val Gardena, finished beyond the tenth place. Cuche was 11th and Defago 21st, just ahead of the defending World Champion Daron Rahlves 22nd.

Norway’s Kjetil Aamodt, the 2002 Olympic champion was not far from his 18th medal since 1991 – he finished 5th ,18/100 of a second behind Maier and Miller.
Canada’s Erik Guay, a promising downhill talent, and his teammate Jan Hudec surprised with their 6th and 7th place – by far their best performance in a world class ski race.

Eberharter, who started in 30th position perfectly cruised down the final treacherous course after a more cautious start. He was overwhelmed by joy after ending his run and taking the lead in the standings. First, he rushed out of the finish area to join to his parents who watched the race from the finish line and hugged them with much emotion.
Then he went back to talk to the TV stations which waited on him in the media coral.
“It’s great to start these events with such a perfect result, it puts much pressure away for the next competitions” he said.
“I felt as relaxed and confident than last years at the Olympics before winning the giant slalom. I knew I can do well on this course which I like a lot. Last year, I won two races here and I felt very confident coming here. I skied the upper section smoothly then I took more risks in the lower part. I remembered it well from last year and I knew I can do well there”.
“I can imagine that Hermann is not to pleased to be 2nd but he can be very proud of himself because he has achieved an amazing comeback in the last three weeks. For me it’s quite an achievement to finish ahead of two great stars as Hermann and Bode”.

Eberharter’s strongest dream remains to win the downhill during the next weekend. He has captured gold in all the events he normally skis except in downhill. He should meet again Maier at the start of the next speed event. “The Herminator” who needs to qualify within the Austrian team during the next training runs, had a hard time to enjoy his silver medal after the race.

“There was much more for me in this race” he admitted afterwards. “I skied very well in the upper part where I put more pressure on my skis, but I was too smooth in the lower section” he said.
“We were told by the trainers not to take too a straight line at the bottom, but I ended to ski too “round”. I was all over the place in the last gates where I lost a second on Eberharter. Of course I know that I have to be pleased but still I was aiming for more. In the back of my mind I was always hoping to make it back, but after my victory in Kitzbuhel I felt ready for another triumph here”.
Apparently Hermann’s pride has a hard time to accept the issue of this race and his clear defeat. Yet he felt immediately after his run that it will be difficult for him to keep the lead. The way he shook his head was the clear sign that he was not happy at all by his run.

As Eberharter, Bode Miller too is aiming for more medals during these World Championships. The US champion is a top-contender in the coming combined and the technical events of next week.
“It’s great to get my first podium here, but I didn’t ski the course as well as I could” he said. “I had a hard time to memorize the entire run. Normally I need less then fifteen minutes to inspect a course, but today I was over half an hour on the slope. This is probably the most demanding race I ever entered. You need to use your brain a lot - it was a great advantage for Stephan to know it from last year”.
“Yet he deserves his victory. He was by far the best in the last years and also today. He was almost perfect in the last turns. I can not complain to be on the podium next to two great skiers as him and Hermann Maier who amazed us again today”.

The next men’s event in planned on Thursday – the combined event, a downhill followed by a slalom. The skiers will train on the downhill course in the two previous day. The women’s Super-G is scheduled for Monday.


Patrick Lang