ÖSV podium in the Super-G

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Raphael Haaser (left) celebrated a second place, only Marco Odermatt was just faster.

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

Strong! Raphael Haaser blew away the Swiss trio in the super-G in Kitzbühel. The Tyrolean raced to a sensational second place on his comeback, only ski dominator Marco Odermatt was 11 hundredths faster. His Swiss team-mate Stefan Rogentin completed the podium.

Marco Odermatt fulfilled his outstanding "Mission Golden Chamois" in the very first race of the Hahnenkamm weekend in Kitzbühel. The Swiss high-flyer won the super-G on the Streif on Friday ahead of Tyrolean Raphael Haaser, who made a perfect race comeback after an injury break. Haaser was only 11/100ths of a second behind the top favorite as he raced down the finishing slope.

Haaser prevented a Swiss triple victory in the 250th super-G in World Cup history, which was overshadowed by crashes, third place went to Stefan Rogentin (+0.30 sec.), young star Franjo von Allmen (+0.45) came fourth. The second best Austrian was Stefan Eichberger in 13th place (+0.85). Daniel Hemetsberger was 17th, Stefan Babinsky 20th and Manuel Traninger 25th. Vincent Kriechmayr, who crashed in Wengen, had decided against a lightning comeback in the Gamsstadt in the morning after the run-in.

First and second place among themselves: Odermatt and Haaser.

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

Here are the results:

A childhood wish fulfilled
Haaser severely overstretched a cruciate ligament in the giant slalom in Val d'Isere in mid-December and only decided to take part in the Kitz race after passing the stress test on Thursday. "I live a good three quarters of an hour away from there, this is really a home race for me. You've been watching and cheering on since you were a child and of course you want to take home a chamois like that," Haaser told ORF. "I wanted to attack from the start to the finish, and I managed that quite well." The reward was his fourth place on the podium (always 2nd), a silver chamois and 50,000 euros (gross) prize money.

Thanks to Haaser, the crisis-ridden ÖSV speedmen further extended their success record on the Streif. In the 22nd Kitzbühel Super-G, at least one Austrian stood on the podium for the 21st time. Odermatt, previously without a Kitz victory, celebrated his 44th success in the World Cup and extended his lead in the overall World Cup. "It was a solid run, that's exactly what it took today," he said with relief. His object of desire, however, is the traditional Hahnenkamm downhill on Saturday (11.30). "Clearly, winning the downhill here is the big goal this season," said Odermatt.

Haaser's final spurt
For Lukas Feurstein, the "test pilot" with start number 1, the Kitz premiere was already over in the upper section. The third-placed skier from Beaver Creek caught his crossover outer ski in a gate after a section full of bumps. The ski came undone. "It hurts a bit. I hope it's not too bad, a ski watch edge bruise or something like that," said Feurstein. He would like to be back at the start in Schladming.

The following break was a foretaste for the competition, who had to prove their staying power. After crashes and a total of 14 retirements, the final result was not known until 2.03 pm. Odermatt produced a magnificent run with the 8, with minor difficulties in the larch shot section. Von Allmen and Rogentin had their work cut out for them. Odermatt had to really tremble with Haaser, who got faster and faster as the race went on and made up over three tenths in the lower section.

Helicopter recoveries
The Streif showed its teeth once again. Dominik Paris, a Kitz specialist with four victories to his name, and Alexis Pinturault caused scares with crashes on the "Feuerstein" section. While the South Tyrolean was able to cross the finish line on his own, the Frenchman was probably more seriously affected. Pinturault, recently out of action for a long time due to a torn cruciate ligament, grabbed his twisted knee and was flown out by helicopter. His wife Romane, who was waiting at the finish line with their daughter in her arms, slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. Shortly afterwards, the helicopter also had to take off for Frenchman Florian Loriot.

Alexis Pinturault crashed heavily.

(Bild: AFP)

Otmar Striedinger also caused an interruption. The Carinthian Streif enthusiast cleared the closely adjacent boards and safety nets after a snowfall on the Oberhausberg approach, but then raced to the finish himself moments later. "The course setter found the shots very well," Striedinger noted dryly. "I can feel the ribs, but it's not too bad."

Darkness at the end of the marathon race
Around 90 minutes after the start of the race, only 25 runners had crossed the finish line. The result: shadows spreading upwards from the traverse and a clear disadvantage for runners with higher numbers. Seemingly unimpressed by this, number 27, the 24-year-old Styrian Eichberger (+0.85), sped to the finish. He said: "It was quite a solid run, it's certainly one of the more difficult super-Gs of the season."