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Marco Odermatt won another duel with Cyprien Sarrazin in the World Cup downhill, but on Saturday his arch-rival Alexander Aamodt Kilde suffered a serious crash and was airlifted to hospital. It was ruined.
Odermatt and Sarrazin were much faster than any of the other racers, starting back-to-back minutes before Kilde crashed with the finish line of the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit at hand.
Kilde, the 2020 World Cup overall winner and longtime partner of American star Mikaela Shiffrin, was undergoing lengthy treatment on her right leg as she lay next to the goal line.
The speed race in Wengen, Switzerland’s most historic ski venue, ended in an exhausting third day in a row. On Friday, 2021 overall champion Alexis Pinturault (France) was airlifted after suffering a season-ending knee injury in an accident.
“Well, I think three races is too many,” Odermatt told Swiss broadcaster RTS. Seven of Saturday’s top 30 runners failed to finish, behind his good friend Kilde. “There are a lot of crashes, yes, maybe too many.”
Watch | Kilde was airlifted after crash in Wengen.
Norway’s Alexander Aamodt Kilde had to be taken away by helicopter after colliding with fencing so hard during a downhill World Cup race in Wengen, Switzerland, on Saturday.
Kilde, 31, is known as one of the strongest ski racers, but this week in Wengen, he battled illness while finishing third in both Thursday’s short downhill and Friday’s super-G.
The unusually intense racing schedule at Wengen replaces the first downhill in Beaver Creek, Colorado, which was canceled last month, and will feature the traditional Lauberhorn race over the 4.3-kilometer (2 2/3-mile) course on Saturday. It was supposed to peak at the event.
Odermatt and Sarrazin had finished 1-2 against Kilde over the previous two days and traded wins on Saturday, outscoring all their rivals by a wide margin.
Odermatt’s winning time of just over 2 minutes and 25 seconds was about 30 minutes longer than any other downhill this season. Sarrazin was 0.59 seconds behind, and third-place Dominique Paris was 1.92 seconds behind in the men’s downhill race.
Kilde started making mistakes more than two minutes into the winding final section. He lost his ski balance entering the curve and made another mistake on the left-hand turn heading into the finish.
“The race here is three days long and ends with the longest race,” Sarrazin said. He was second on Thursday and won the super-G, where French teammate Pinturault crashed. “Three days are really hard physically.” [race”saidSarrazinwhowassecondThursdayandwonthesuper-GwhenhisFranceteammatePinturaultcrashed”Threedaysisreallyhardphysically”
“Once again, I feel like Alexis yesterday,” said Sarrazin, who won his first career downhill win in Bormio, Italy, last month, with Odermatt second.
Odermatt’s 31st World Cup race win was his second downhill after Thursday’s win.
WATCH | Odermatt further claims World Cup downhill victory in Wengen:
Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the men’s downhill race in Wengen on Saturday with a winning time of 2 minutes 25.64 seconds.
The 26-year-old Swiss star extended his points lead in both the downhill standings during the season and in the overall contest, where he is the two-time defending champion. Pinturault and Kilde won two overall titles before Odermatt.
The speed racers have now moved to Kitzbühel, Austria’s traditional downhill venue, with Saturday’s Hahnenkamm race one of the most feared and admired on the men’s circuit.
Racers enjoyed near-perfect racing conditions on the picture-postcard Lauberhorn hill, with bright blue skies without a cloud in sight and temperatures of -2°C.
The snow surface was faster than Thursday’s downhill, with American Ryan Cochran-Siegle hitting a top speed of 150.4 kph (93.5 mph) on the Hannekshus straight, about two minutes into the course. Cochran Seagle finished 9th, 2.77 behind the winner.
Wengen’s fastest straight is where France’s Johan Clair set the World Cup speed record of 161.9km/h in 2013. The course was then modified to reduce speed.
The fourth race in Wengen is Sunday’s slalom race, which speed racers will skip.
Watch | Sofia Goggia’s 2024 World Cup Alpine Ski Classic Race Preview:
In the third episode of “Let’s Go Racing,” Scott Russell looks ahead to upcoming events in Wengen, Kitzbühel, Garmisch and Cortina, some of the most historic locations on the alpine skiing World Cup circuit. Joining him will be Canada’s Valerie Grenier (two-time World Cup winner), Italian superstar Sofia Goggia and former Canadian Tech skier Michael Janik.
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