Kriechmayr wins tight Val Gardena super-G, leads Austrian 1-2 finish

Austrian veteran Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) outshone pre-race favorites Marco Odermatt (SUI) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) to win a super-G under sunny, blue skies in Val Gardena/Groeden on Friday.

For the 32-year-old Kriechmayr – the 2021 world champion in Cortina d’Ampezzo – it was his 17th career World Cup victory and eighth in super-G. Kriechmayr relied on his power and finesse on the 2,415-metre Saslong track to narrowly edge his Austrian teammate Daniel Hemetsberger by .02 seconds. His winning time on a fast and relatively open course set was 1:28.39.

“It was a good run from my side – I tried to give 100-percent every metre, every gate,” said Kriechmayr about his second super-G win in Val Gardena, having also won in 2019.

Kriechmayr survived a late scare, as he nearly lost control landing off the finish jump. He recovered and got the green light.

“I tried to risk 100-percent and didn’t care about a DNF, so I tried everything and am really proud of my skiing today,” he said.

In an extremely tight race as three one-hundredths of a second separated the top three podium finishers, while 0.15 was the small margin between the six leading racers.

Hemetsberger rounded out the Austrian 1-2 finish in the season-opening super-G, laying down a proficient run while skiing with bib No. 6. He sat in the leader's position for seven racers, until his teammate Kriechmayr knocked him off the top spot from bib No. 14. Still, the 32-year-old Austrian veteran had nothing to complain about on a sunny day in the South Tyrol.

“Just two one-hundredths behind, my first win would have been great, but this is fine too,” Hemetsberger said. “After yesterday’s disappointment because 28th is not what I wanted, I tried to do everything I could.

“Today, I was really fast, but didn’t expect the green light, so I was really happy,” he said.

Hemetsberger’s runner-up finish was just his fourth World Cup podium and second in super-G. He matches his career best second-place showing – achieved in a downhill in Lake Louise, in November 2021.

Odermatt happy with run on 'easy course'

The defending World Cup super-G champion Odermatt – who achieved eight podiums in eight races last season – skied fluidly and relaxed, but dropped a few tenths on the lower part of the course and ended third, just .03 seconds behind Kriechmayr.

“It’s probably one of the easiest super-G’s I’ve ever skied on World Cup and on a slope like this just three-hundredths behind victory is a very good race for me even if the hundredths are not on my side yesterday and today,” said Odermatt.

“I felt my run was Ok, but on an easy slope like here you don’t really know it was fast, so I was happy when I saw my time, even if it was just one-hundredth behind Hemetsberger,” he said.

It was the second podium in as many days for the ultra-consistent 26-year-old Swiss superstar. After four races this season, Odermatt currently leads the overall World Cup standings with 220 points. He has charged to three podiums, including a dominant GS victory in Val d’Isere last weekend.

It was a monumental day for Austrian ski team as they rebounded from Thursday’s lackluster performance in the downhill. A race in which Kriechmayr could muster no better than 17th, while Hemetsberger ended down in 28th. The top Austrian downhill finisher was Stefan Babinsky in sixth, with no one else besides Kriechmayr was able to crack the top-20.

But Friday was an entirely different story as Austrian racers raised their game placing three in the top five – Kriechmayr, Hemetsberger and Marco Schwarz.

“Yesterday was disappointing, but today was much, much better,” Hemetsberger said, with a huge smile.

“Yesterday was really bad for the whole team, so we tried our best today – so congratulations to the whole team,” Kriechmayr added.

It was nearly an Austrian 1-2-3 sweep on Friday – for what could have been the second time this season following the Gurgl slalom in November – as Schwarz finished fifth, just one-tenth behind Odermatt. An extended flight over the finish jump cost him critical seconds.

While Odermatt and Kilde have been the top guns of super-G over the past few seasons, Kriechmayr has been the mark of consistency in the discipline. The Austrian racer from Linz has finished top-three in the World Cup super-G standings in each of the last six seasons.

Odermatt and Kilde have won 15 of the last 17 super-G’s following the Swiss racer’s near miss on Friday in the Italian Dolomites. Kriechmayr was also the last racer besides the Swiss and Austrian top dogs to win a World Cup super-G, claiming victory at World Cup Finals in Courchevel in March 2021.

The 56th Saslong Classic wraps up on Saturday with the official Saslong Downhill. With a positive weather forecast in the Italian Dolomites, expectations are to run the downhill from the top and the entire 3,446-metre course.