Jansrud wins season-opening World Cup super-G
LAKE LOUISE: Reigning Olympic champion Kjetil Jansrud got his World Cup speed season off to a flying start Sunday by capturing the Lake Louise super-G.
The 32-year-old Norwegian veteran completed the season-opening super-G in a time of one minute, 30.76 seconds to finish 0.28 seconds
ahead of runner-up Max Franz of Austria.
“Winning the race proves that you are on the right track, so I’m very happy with my win today in Lake Louise,” said Jansrud. Jansrud had to battle through changing visibility and intermittent snowfall to earn his 20th career World Cup victory. It was also his third win at Lake Louise, a place where he has enjoyed past success by winning the double (downhill and super-G) in the Canadian Rockies in 2014.
Franz was second in a time of 1:31.04 while his Austrian compatriot Hannes Reichelt placed third in 1:31.08. It was a superb day for the Norwegians who claimed three of the top six spots. Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished fourth in 1:31.17 and teammate Aksel Lund Svindal rounded out the top five finishing 0.52 behind Jansrud. Svindal is skiing strong again after coming off an injury filled season last year. His rehabilitated knee held up throughout both season-opening speed races as he also finished third in Saturday’s downhill. Swiss Beat Feuz won Saturday’s downhill, finishing ahead of Austria’s Matthias Mayer and Svindal.
It was an emotion-filled week of racing for the skiers as the Lake Louise event took place just two weeks after the tragic death of French athlete David Poisson, who was killed in nearby Nakiska ski resort while training for this event.
Poisson, a downhill bronze medallist at the 2013 World Championships, died after he lost a ski, went through the safety netting and struck a tree. The 35-year-old Poisson was travelling at more than 100 kilometres per hour (62 miles per hour) when he lost his balance on a curve. The racers honoured Poisson’s memory by wearing bibs with his name and heart-shaped stickers bearing his initials on their helmets.—AFP