KEEP YOUR EYE ON ... MEN’S DOWNHILL

On their second trip down a previously unknown Olympic hill, the world’s top skiers had to deal with strong winds.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde handled it the best, posting the fastest time Friday in the second men’s downhill training session of the Beijing Games.

The Norwegian, who leads the World Cup downhill standings, had a time of 1 minute, 43.72 seconds through gusts of winds as the skiers tested the Rock course for the second time.

“You could have had a race today, as you saw we skied, but it would have certainly been a lottery in a day like today,” Italian skier Christof Innerhofer said after finishing 0.57 seconds behind Kilde. “There were really strong wind gusts. Then it changed a bit. You need a bit of luck. But I don’t think about that.”

Max Franz of Austria was second fastest, 0.06 seconds behind Kilde, and Broderick Thompson of Canada was third, 0.20 behind.

The start of Friday’s session was delayed for an hour because of the wind.

Kilde’s main challengers for the gold medal are expected to be Swiss skiers Beat Feuz and Marco Odermatt, the overall World Cup leader. Feuz was 0.58 slower than Kilde. Odermatt was more than two seconds off the pace.

“I wasn’t fast. Probably I haven’t found the best setup yet, but for sure the wind is playing a big role,” Odermatt said. “You can discuss the wind for the next 10 days. It probably won’t be the fairest race.

“It’s sad to have this in the Olympics, but it is how it is, and you have to ski well for sure, otherwise you can’t win. And if you have the luck on your side and a good run, you can win a medal.”

AP Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde had the fastest time at men’s downhill training Friday.