Michael Walchhofer of Austria won a World Cup downhill Saturday, while Ivica Kostelic of Croatia clinched the overall title. Walchhofer, who is retiring next week, completed the 3-kilometer Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 45.92 seconds to hold off teammate Klaus Kroell and Beat Feuz of Switzerland.
“Maybe after today, I have to come back here next year,” Walchhofer said, joking. “The piste conditions were just perfect.”Kostelic, a slalom specialist, finished 21st to claim the overall World Cup globe for the first time. He powered to the title with five races to spare after seven wins in January catapulted him ahead of his competitors.
“I am full of emotions right now,” Kostelic said. “I want to thank all my team for being beside me through the whole season.”Steven Nyman was the highest American finisher at 20th, while teammate Erik Fisher was 25th.
Bode Miller is skipping the last World Cup events of the season for the third consecutive year to spend time with his daughter in San Diego. Miller is out of the running in the downhill (9th) and overall standings (13th).
Kroell finished 0.13 seconds behind in glorious sunshine at the Kvitfjell resort, where a fan club including his son, girfriend and friends joined the thousands of visitors cheering him on at the bottom of the slope.
“I made mistakes on the first two turns but after that I raced really well,” Kroell said. “My goal was to get on the podium and I'm happy with that.”Feuz was 0.31 seconds back, showing that his unexpected win in the downhill Friday was no fluke. The 24-year-old former junior world champion had benefited from an early start on Friday and was determined to prove he could match his peers in more equitable conditions.
“These are the two most beautiful days of my life,” Feuz said. “Today there were perfect conditions for everybody. It's a confirmation of yesterday's win, so I'm very happy.”For Didier Cuche, however, it was a day to forget. The International Ski Federation (FIS) said Saturday that the Swiss skier will be fined $5,400 for unsportsmanlike behavior after he threatened to “attack” a referee if a dangerous jump was not removed from the course.
Cuche, the defending World Cup downhill champion, telephoned race director Gunter Hujara late Thursday to say: “If you don't take the jump down and anything happens, I will not hesitate to attack you in public.”
“We have no problem with him complaining about the jump,” Hujara told The Associated Press. “It's the way he said it that's the problem.”Cuche's day got worse when he finished seventh and Walchhofer overtook him in the race for the downhill crystal globe. Walchhofer leads by 14 points to set up a dramatic finish, with two downhills left to race next week at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. A super-G will be held Sunday to complete the event.