The Swiss Beat Feuz won the downhill at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The 2017 world champion won by 0.10 seconds over veteran champion Johan Clarey of France, who at the age of 41 years and 29 days is now the oldest alpine medalist at the Olympics. Bronze went to Matthias Mayer from Austria (+0.16), who, after winning 2014 in the downhill and 2018 in the super-G, just missed a historic triple. The best German was Romed Baumann (+1.15) in 13th place, Vice World Champion Andreas Sander and Josef Ferstl finished in 17th and 23rd place. Dominik Schwaiger fell badly.
“Kugelblitz” Feuz, 34, is the fourth downhill Olympic champion from Switzerland after Bernhard Russi (1972), Pirmin Zurbriggen (1988) and Didier Défago (2010). Russi and Defago designed the 2,950 m long track “The Rock” on Mount Xiaohaituo. “It was a tight, difficult race on a new track. The best moment was when number 30 crossed the finish line. Then I got the call from my girlfriend and daughter. That’s when all the emotions ran high,” reported the winner.
The 16-time World Cup winner Feuz continued his career in 2013 after a knee injury, not least thanks to good encouragement from Felix Neureuther. Clarey, on the other hand, surprisingly won silver at the 2019 World Cup.
The German starter Dominik Schwaiger fell badly. The 30-year-old sports soldier was lifted out of a small wave in front of a banked curve near the middle station, flew into the safety net and then slid down the slope. According to information from the German Ski Association (DSV), he suffered bruises on his left forearm and elbow. Schwaiger had to take a “break for a few days”. He also misses the Super-G in Yanqing scheduled for Tuesday.
