Mayer goes one better than dad, bags gold
years after his father won a silver in the Olympic super-G, Matthias Mayer went one better on Friday with a surprise win in the same event — days after hurting his hip and two years after suffering a broken back.
As in Sochi four years ago, where he upset pre-race favourites to win the men’s downhill, the Austrian entered the race as an outsider against a field including in-form Norwegians Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud.
His victory by 0.13 seconds over Beat Feuz of Switzerland means the Mayer family now has a better record than most countries in men’s Olympic super-G - an event that’s only ever been won by Norway, Austria, France or Germany.
Mayer joked he could put his medal together with the silver his father Helmut won in Calgary in 1988.
“I saw his Olympic silver medal my whole lifetime, it was in our living room,” he told reporters. “I’m happy to have my own now... Yes, maybe he can have mine too.”
Mayer, 27, has a knack of delivering on the Olympic stage, but he has endured bleak moments too. In December 2015 he suffered a vertebral fracture after crashing during a downhill race in Val Gardena, Italy, and underwent surgery that kept him out of action till next season.
INDIAN CAMPAIGN ENDS
Indian skier Jagdish Singh finished a dismal 103rd in the men’s 15-km free cross-country race at his debut Winter Olympics here, ending another disappointing campaign for the country.
The 26-year-old clocked 43.03 minutes to be the 103rd skier to cross the finish line in a line-up of 119 at the Alpensia CrossCountry Skiing Centre.
Jagdish’s time was 9:16.4 minutes slower than Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, who took his third straight gold.