Aleksander Aamodt Kilde jubilantly raised his right index finger in the finish area, the German ski racers quarreled. With his first victory on the legendary Streif in Kitzbühel, the Norwegian Kilde underpinned his position as the favorite for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The 29-year-old won the first of the two downhills of the prestigious weekend on the Hahnenkamm in Tyrol on Friday ahead of the surprisingly strong Frenchman Johan Clarey. His compatriot Blaise Giezendanner, with start number 43, still raced to third place on the increasingly faster track. A number of strong riders fell short of expectations, and the Germans also missed out on being among the top ten downhill riders.
Like last Sunday in Wengen, Dominik Schwaiger was the best of the quintet of the German Ski Association (DSV). “It would have been a bit more,” he said after his 14th place on ARD. Like so many others, Schwaiger had lost a lot of time in the skids on the slope. The results of the other German men gave little hope two weeks before the Winter Games in China (February 4th to 20th).
Andreas Sander, Romed Baumann, Simon Jocher and Josef Ferstl, who had a bad fall during training on Wednesday, took 23rd, 25th, 29th and 33rd place. “In terms of skiing, it wasn’t what I had imagined,” he said for weeks weakening world championship second Sander self-critical. Baumann had little to blame himself for, but bad luck with his low starting number two. The runway, which had been slightly shortened in the upper section due to strong winds, did not gradually deteriorate. She got better. “It’s a shame,” said the World Cup runner-up in Super-G. “There are races like that.”
Kilde, however, set the next exclamation mark despite a small mistake in the changed entrance to the traverse. This triumph feels “incredible”, said the overall World Cup winner of the 2019/2020 season. Together with the Swiss Marco Odermatt, who is fifth this time and continues to lead in the overall classification, Kilde is the dominator of this winter. After his sixth win of the season, he is also the favorite for the second downhill run on the famous Streif on Sunday.
In the speed area, Kitzbühel has always been the most important station of the season. Record prize money of one million euros will be paid out over the entire weekend, including the participants in the slalom on Saturday. Instead of up to 50,000 as before, this time there are only 1000 viewers per day due to the pandemic.
In addition, in view of the increasing corona numbers worldwide, concerns about infection and positive tests so shortly before the Olympics are depressing the mood of some of those involved. At least Kilde, who had suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in training just a year ago, didn’t let any of this show and once again confirmed his excellent condition. The cup in the form of a chamois should have a special place with him.
