Kilde Makes it Two for Two in Downhill

It was another duel on the downhill between the favourites and this time the Viking came out on top at Beaver Creek.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) grabbed his second win of the young season slicing through the wind to win the downhill. Kilde outpaced his rival Marco Odermatt (SUI) by a mere 0.06 seconds to claim his eighth World Cup downhill victory.

The Norwegian took a few risks on his ride down the Birds of Prey and came from the early bib number 6 start position for a gutsy performance. To make matters even more difficult, Kilde was battling flu-like symptoms this weekend.

“It has been a tough week. I caught the flu in Lake Louise after a nice weekend. It hit me really hard. I skied in clothes to have no sweat and take down everything a notch. I felt way better yesterday and that was fantastic,” said Kilde.

“I still felt it a bit today but had enough strength for the two minutes I needed,” continued Kilde.

Kilde still sits in second in the overall cup standings as the skiers prepare for the super-G at Beaver Creek on Sunday.

Kilde knows what stands in his way from taking both races this weekend.

“Marco Odermatt is one thing that may stop me from winning (laughs). And also there is a lot of contenders at the start and it is never easy to win races,” said Kilde.

Odermatt came up just short in second place. The reigning overall champion has still not won a downhill World Cup event in his young, decorated career.

It is the fifth time Odermatt has been the bridesmaid in a World Cup downhill race.

“It is a little bit sad when it is just six-hundredths and you know where to find them but, that is ski racing. I am really happy with my second place,” said Odermatt.

The conditions certainly did not help Odermatt as he challenged windier weather during his run.

“The conditions were very tough. I think it was not a super fair race today with the wind on top. For the first guys it was okay but the later are skiing well and they had no chance. That is a little bit sad. But that is our sport,” said Odermatt.

Odermatt will try to exact some revenge on Sunday as he did in Lake Louise last week when Kilde took the downhill and the Swiss skier came back to top the podium in the super-G.

James Crawford (CAN) came across with a surprising third place finish. It is only the second career World Cup podium for the North American.

“I am fortunate to have quite a few years skiing the World Cup tour and it wasn’t until last year that I started breaking through. So when you get some exposure on the tracks and confidence, it is easy to go out there and do what you know,” said Crawford.

Crawford knows there are higher goals than just making the podium.

“Today the skiing was good enough. There is still a gap to close to get to Kilde and Odermatt. Hopefully in the later races this year we can get that done,” said Crawford.

The 25-year-old and Olympic combined bronze medallist first podiumed in the super-G at Kvitfjell last season and will factor in the super-G race on Sunday at Beaver Creek.

Coming just 0.01 seconds behind Crawford was Matthias Mayer (AUT). The Austrian falls short of the podium once again after finishing fourth in the downhill last week at Lake Louise.

His Austrian teammate Vincent Kriechmayr finished fifth, 0.94 off Kilde’s winning pace.

Beat Feuz (SUI) figured to contend for the podium but fell short in ninth place.

The men will take the hills in Beaver Creek again on Sunday with the super-G where Odermatt is the favourite to top the podium.