World Ski Championships—Men's Downhill: Kueng Wins, Ganong Earns Silver
Men's downhill day at the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships was an enjoyable one for the Swiss and the Americans.
The former's Patrick Kueng and Beat Feuz raced into first and third, respectively. Making up for a disappointing two days for the home crowd, Travis Ganong secured silver while Steven Nyman recorded a respectable fourth-place finish.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
The wait for confirmation of their results was not without a few heart-stopping moments, though, as a few of the late starters threatened to upset the main men.
The winner's story
The highs of Kueng's 2013-14 season were considerable, to say the least.
The first win of his career, which happened to come at Beaver Creek, helped him move into third in the final World Cup super-G standings. The second came in his native Switzerland, on Wengen's famous Lauberhorn downhill.
After a comparatively quieter early phase to the season, it was there this year where Kueng's performance proposed the possibility he might have one or two such results in him before all was said and done. Such a feeling was not going to originate from his form in America—he failed to finish both speed events held there last December.
The 31-year-old got everything right this time at the Colorado venue. He got faster between the first two splits and then upped his speed just enough to push ahead of his compatriot Feuz. His final time was clocked at one minute, 43.18 seconds.
Kueng's face at the end was a picture of delight and disbelief. By the time he was united with his fellow podium-placers, though, he was understandably satisfied by one of the most comprehensive performances of his career.
Silver and bronze
A good day for the Swiss was already in the offing thanks to Feuz.
Carlo Janka held the lead earlier in the day for the the European nation only to be overtaken by French super-G bronze medalist Adrien Theaux and Nyman.
Feuz (who finished second in the aforementioned Wengen downhill) was in bib No. 15, and halfway down his run, it looked like the lead would stay with the American. He went back and forth on the remaining time checks as the Beaver Creek crowd waited nervously.
The red lights finally gave way to green as he crossed the line with an advantage of 0.03 seconds. Favourites such as Dominik Paris, Kjetil Jansrud and Hannes Reichelt were still to come, but Feuz was understandably pleased. During his celebration, he pulled off a kick-flip of his ski, the kind synonymous with Swiss great Didier Cuche, who was watching on in his capacity as a television analyst for Eurosport.
The American crowd's disappointment proved relatively short-lived, however.
Ganong, a World Cup downhill winner this season in Santa Caterina, had naturally pinpointed these World Championships as a target.
"I really want to peak for World Champs," the 26-year-old told USA Today's Brian Pinelli in Italy back in December, "that's the one race this year that I want to be ready for, so it's all just building to there."
Ready Ganong was. He started strongly, and while he slowed fractionally further down the hill, he still did enough to ski into second. Speaking post-race, per the International Ski Federation's (FIS) website, he was pleased, to say the least:
"It’s a very good day. I just turned my brain off put a smile on my face, had some fun and made some good turns. It was almost a perfect run, but it’s definitely the perfect day."
Host nation performances
Ganong and Nyman's good performances were the headline results of a positive day for the U.S. ski team, but there was plenty to cheer about for their other two representatives.
Jared Goldberg started the day's competition in good style and held his lead until Janka skied down. Particularly exciting was the much-anticipated run of Andrew Weibrecht.
Known as the Warhorse, Weibrecht picked up bronze and silver super-G medals in Vancouver and Sochi, respectively, and earned him a reputation as a big-stage performer.
On home snow, he was in touching distance right until the end, only to lose time on the final turns. Still, eighth place was no disgrace for the man with the equine nickname (a less catchy title).
Most disappointed
Italy's Paris finished outside of the top 10 in the super-G but struggled even more in the downhill. Second in the discipline's World Cup standings, he finished a lowly 23rd.
It was a bad day for the Italians altogether, as their 63-year wait for a downhill winner continued. As noted by FIS, the last to claim first place in the event was Zeno Colo, winner in 1950 and 1952.
Christof Innerhofer's inconsistent season continued, as he finished a place below Paris. From a starting position of eighth, Werner Heel ended up 32nd, while Matteo Marsaglia finished in 28th.
Underdog tales
Despite enjoying a decent season, Ondrej Bank (Czech Republic) was not expected to trouble those in the podium places with a starting bib of 29. He came close to causing an upset and finished seventh.
Another mention for Aksel Lund Svindal is warranted. In the Norweigian's second race back from injury, he skied himself into another sixth-place finish following Wednesday's super-G. That "underdog" status is gone from now on, though.
Next up
Attentions turn to the Alpine combined events now. The men are back out on Sunday, while the women will take their turn on Monday.
World Championships results and leaderboard information confirmed via the FIS.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
