Svindal’s season ends in crash-filled downhill
Kitzbuehel race called off after serious safety concerns
KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA— Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal sustained a season-ending knee injury in a dramatic men’s World Cup downhill, which was called off because of poor visibility after three serious crashes among only 30 starters on Saturday.
Svindal and Georg Streitberger of Austria both needed knee surgery and are out for the season after they were thrown off the bumpy Hausbergkante and landed in the safety netting, as the cloudy weather made for flat light on parts of the course.
Former Streif winner Hannes Reichelt also crashed in the same spot but the Austrian escaped with a bruised bone in his left knee.
Svindal had scratches to his face but initially appeared to have escaped serious injury, as he stood up shortly after the crash and was brought down the slope by a snow scooter. However, a check of his right knee at a clinic in Innsbruck revealed the extent of his injury.
The Norwegian wasn’t fully fit coming into the race, after he pulled his left hamstring while straddling a gate in the slalom run of Friday’s combined event.
Peter Fill of Italy was leading when the race was cancelled and was awarded the victory. Swiss pair Beat Feuz and Carlo Janka took second and third. The result was counted, since at least 30 skiers started their run.
Canadians Eric Guay, Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Benjamin Thomsen finished 11th, 15th and 19th respectively.
“Those crashes throw a shadow over this race day, they are dampening my joy,” said Feuz, who trailed Fill by 0.47 for his first top-three finish since coming runner-up in Wengen a year ago. “I still can’t realize I made the podium today.”
His teammate, Janka, finished 0.65 behind Fill, and had mixed feelings.
“The crashes were brutal. It was a dramatic race,” the 2010 overall champion said. “It’s never easy here, but you have either difficult or extreme and, today, it was the latter.”
An estimated crowd of 45,000 held their breath each time the race was interrupted for about 10 minutes following the crashes, which were repeatedly shown on video screens.
Competing in his 301st World Cup race, Fill made some minor mistakes but didn’t lose much time as a result. He was standing at the leaderboard when Reichelt and Svindal went out.
“It’s a tough downhill. You have to risk everything,” the Italian said. “It hurts when you see Reichelt and Svindal flying off the course.”
Fill’s second career victory came more than seven years after winning a downhill in Lake Louise, Alta., in November 2008.
“This was the biggest race, as we don’t have Olympics or world championships this season,” Fill said.