VAL GARDENA, Italy, 18 December 2004 — Michael Walchhofer won a men’s World Cup super-G yesterday as Austrians pushed overall leader Bode Miller off the Val Gardena podium. Hermann Maier, the former Olympic and world champion, finished second with compatriot Benjamin Raich third.
American Miller, the runaway championship leader after becoming only the second man to win World Cup races in all four disciplines in the same season, was fourth.
It was Walchhofer’s first win in super-G and his first success since a downhill victory at Lake Louise, Canada, in November last year. He also finished second in a downhill at Val Gardena last year. The victory was all the more surprising given that Walchhofer’s place on the starting line was in doubt after he missed training with a knee injury.
“I’m so pleased with this. It is totally unexpected for me coming after the injury. The ligament problem meant I had to be cautious and maybe in a way that helped me because I was quite relaxed,” said Walchhofer. “Its my first win in super-G and that means a lot to me because it is a difficult event to win,” he added.
The 29-year-old Austrian, who won with a time of one minute 31.17 seconds, was the 28th starter with Maier 30th.
Maier has never won in Val Gardena but he came close, powering down the Saslong piste to cross the finish line just 0.12 slower than his teammate. “I can be happy with second place because it is always good to be on the podium but I am totally unhappy with the way I raced,” said Maier. “I made too many mistakes and this is a course which is very similar to a downhill,” said Maier, who has yet to get a victory this season.
Meantime, the third practice for the weekend’s two women’s downhills in Val d’Isere was cancelled yesterday because of snow falls and strong winds, organizers said.
Around 10 centimetres of snow fell on the French resort overnight while winds at the top of the OK piste on which the downhills are scheduled to take place blew at up to 80 kph.
Two training runs were held on Wednesday and Thursday, making it possible to stage the two races if weather permits. More snow is forecast for the weekend.
