In Beaver Creek
Men’s downhill in Beaver Creek from 7pm LIVE
Justin Murisier surprisingly won the men's downhill in Beaver Creek on Friday evening. The Swiss racer celebrated his first World Cup victory ahead of his compatriot Marco Odermatt and Miha Hrobat from Slovenia. The best Austrian was Vincent Kriechmayr in fifth place.
Vincent Kriechmayr missed out on the podium in fifth place in the first downhill race of the season. The ÖSV star was three tenths off the podium in the Swiss one-two in Beaver Creek - Justin Murisier took the premiere victory ahead of Marco Odermatt (+0.20 sec.) - 65 hundredths behind. The Slovenian Miha Hrobat and the Canadian James Crawford finished ahead of him. After four World Cup races in the World Championship winter, Austria's male skiers still have to wait for their first podium finish.
Murisier had previously only finished in the top five in the downhill once before as fourth in Bormio (2023). In the sunshine in Colorado, however, he had the run of his life. With six in the top 18, the Swiss showed themselves to be strong as a bear on the infamous Birds of Prey. A fall by their team-mate Arnaud Boisset, who hit the back of his head and was treated on the slope for a long time, overshadowed the day of celebration.
Stefan Babinsky was the second best ÖSV skier in 17th place (+1.60). The 24-year-old Stefan Eichberger surprised everyone in his second World Cup appearance in 20th place. Points were also scored by Daniel Hemetsberger (24th), Raphael Haaser (25th) and Otmar Striedinger (29th). Debutants Manuel Traninger (42nd) and Vincent Wieser (45th) missed out, as did Stefan Rieser (46th). Daniel Danklmaier, who followed Boisset, was a long way behind (51st). A super-G is scheduled for Saturday and a giant slalom on Sunday.
Selective bird of prey slope
With bib number 3, Murisier initially flew under the radar, but the 32-year-old's performance gradually gained in value. On the icy, compact surface, the race was fast. Nobody made any mistakes and some of the top skiers had considerable problems. Kitzbühel winner Cyprien Sarrazin (+1.03) and Dominik Paris (+1.69) were among them. Odermatt also had to grit his teeth. Last year's bullet winner opened up 37/100 on the unpopular upper gliding section, then caught up with Murisier thanks to his technique on the steep slope. However, a final jump that was too wide cost him two tenths.
Kriechmayr started the final training session as the fastest skier with confidence, but made a few small mistakes. The 33-year-old recognized "sloppy mistakes", a "sum of little things that were not optimal". "I wasn't quite as fast at the top. I didn't manage the steep slope as cleanly as yesterday. At the bottom I was too straight, I had to 're-surf' a bit, otherwise I would have jumped too far to the left," Kriechmayr told ORF. "It didn't work out for me." The result was a little disappointing. "I'll have to go one better tomorrow. Let's see what the Swiss coach plants down there."
Murisier is a very good skier with a super technique. "It's surprising that he won, but he had the potential," said Kriechmayr. Odermatt was delighted with his long-suffering partner. "He's fought so hard over the last few years. He was always there for me, he helped me so much. He's in so much pain everywhere, he dislocated his shoulder two days ago. I don't know what he had for breakfast, we ate the same thing."
Here is the final score:
Suffering
With a big grin, Murisier revealed his medical records. "Back, shoulder, knee five times," Murisier told us. "People will think I'm stupid, but I've always believed in myself." He had knee surgery as recently as June. "It was worth the fight."
With Odermatt and Kriechmayr, two greats still have to wait for their first Beaver victory in the special downhill. Michael Walchhofer remains the last Austrian downhill winner on the Raubvogel slope (2007). The winner of the last two editions was absent due to injury. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is out for the entire season after his bad crash in Wengen in January. In Beaver Creek training sessions, the Italian Guglielmo Bosca (fibula fracture) and Urs Kryenbühl (knee injury) were injured this time.
Eichberger surprises
The pleasing appearance from the ÖSV's point of view was Eichberger. The Styrian bagged his first points and said after his baptism of fire in Beaver Creek: "There's not much better in the second World Cup race. The first time I saw it I thought to myself: Was it a good idea that I became a skier? If you then ski it at race speed and it works out, it's even more awesome."
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