VAL GARDENA, Italy, 19 December 2004 — Max Rauffer became the first German man in nearly 13 years to win an alpine ski World Cup race when he beat the favorites in a wind-affected downhill yesterday.
Winds gusting up to 80 kph made conditions difficult on the Saslong piste and the race was interrupted briefly while workers captured a young deer that ran on to the course.
Rauffer, 32, finished in one minute 50.59 seconds, 0.05 seconds ahead of Swiss Juerg Gruenenfelder, who had never been on the podium before.
Austrian Johann Grugger equaled the best showing of his career with third place, a further 0.08 seconds further back.
Overall World Cup leader Bode Miller shared 14th place with his fellow American Daron Rahlves, 1.26 seconds off the pace, while Austrian former champion Hermann Maier finished outside the points, 2.23 seconds behind in 37th place. While Germany’s women skiers enjoy regular wins, the men’s team had not had reason to celebrate since Markus Wasmeier won the Garmisch downhill in January 1992, the last of his nine World Cup victories.
Rauffer was swift to admit that he had been fortunate that the gusting winds had not affected his run from start No. 13. “Luck is part of the game,” said Rauffer, whose previous best finish in nine seasons was third in Kvitfjell, Norway, in 2000. “Maybe I was lucky but I knew that my day would come one day.”
Women’s Downhill Called Off
In Val d’Isere, France, a women’s World Cup downhill race scheduled for yesterday in Val d’Isere was called off because of gale force winds at the top of the Oreiller-Killy piste, organizers said.
Snow fell constantly on the French resort on Friday while winds at the top of the piste reached 150 kph, making it impossible to prepare the course. The race jury met yesterday to consider whether a second downhill scheduled for today could be held. With weather forecasts predicting a lull in the winds during the night, they decided to go ahead with plans for the race.
