Cdn Guay grabs silver in WC downhill
Posted January 28, 2012 10:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Erik Guay of Canada raced to a silver medal in a World Cup downhill Saturday on the same course where he claimed his world championship title last year.
The 30-year-old from Mont-Tremblant, Que., dubbed the “King of Garmisch” by his teammates because of his success at the German resort, appeared poised for victory before Dider Cuche of Switzerland laid down an almost flawless run.
“I always feel relaxed here, I love skiing here,” Guay said. “I took some chances today. I hit the snow with my boot, I thought it would be tough to make it to the finish and I was ecstatic when I saw I was first.
“Didier then beat me today, but it’s only fair because I beat him here last year,” Guay added. “I’ve no idea why I do so well here, but I feel relaxed and it’s a course that encompasses everything that a downhill course should have.”
Hannes Reichelt of Austria was third, leaving his team still without a win in a speed event this season.
Guay, still feeling the effects of a cold, had a rocky run on the course, nearly hitting the snow with his hip, then almost crossing skis and going off his line, but made up in the bottom part.
Guay has done well on the Kandahar course, recording five World Cup podiums and clinching the super-G World Cup by winning the last race of the 2010 season there.
Cuche, meanwhile, is retiring at the top of his game.
The 37-year-old is making sure his farewell season is a memorable one — winning his second consecutive World Cup downhill race on a shortened Kandahar course.
Cuche covered the 1,890-metre course — down from the normal 3,256 metres — in one minute 9.10 seconds, to beat Guay by 0.27 seconds and Reichelt by 0.30 seconds.
Cuche was coming off his record fifth win in Kitzbuehel, Austria, which was also run on a shortened course, and where he announced that he was retiring at the end of the season.
“I am very proud of this win today,” Cuche said.
Cuche’s third downhill victory of the season took him to the top of the discipline standings. Cuche’s most successful season was 2009-10, when he won five races. He now has 20 for his career.
“There are still five downhills and 500 points and it’s going to be close, but today it looks good,” Cuche said.
Thick fog forced organizers to lower the starting gate, taking a significant chunk out of the classic course — nearly half of the vertical drop — and making the race about 50 seconds shorter.
“It was clear to me early today that they would have to shorten it, the fog was very thick at the top and it wasn’t going away,” said Cuche, a former butcher who also won on the Kandahar course eight years ago.
“It was good to know that we would race and that we would start on time, even if it was shorter,” he said.
Christof Innerhofer is another skier who seems to thrive on the slope in southern Germany.
The Italian finished in a tie for fourth with Andrej Sporn of Slovenia.
Innerhofer won the super-G gold medal at the world championship last year, silver in the super-combined and bronze in the downhill.
Bode Miller of the United States was penalized for showing up a few minutes late for Friday’s draw and had to start 46th rather than 16th. Miller did well early on the course and was close to Cuche but lost speed at the bottom and finished outside the top 30 who win points.
A super-G is scheduled for Sunday.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
