After finishing second yesterday in the Super-G, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde win his second Downhill of the season today in Wengen in a shortened Lauberhorn racecourse (start was brought down to the alpine combined start). He is the third Norwegian man to win a World Cup Downhill in Wengen, after Lasse Kjus (1999) and Aksel Lund Svindal (2016).
It's Kilde 11th World Cup victory.
“I tried to go full gas from the start, it was awesome to ski here. A Wengen victory was always a goal for me, even if it wasn't from the top. The fight with Odermatt is really great. Let's see how it will be when it's one more minute (on the longest racecourse)", said Kilde.
On Sunday it was a year ago that Kilde tore his cruciate ligament (ACL). However, he has managed to come back even stronger after his serious knee injury. "The self-confidence is there, that's brutally important in skiing", he said.
The Viking has moved to the top of the Downhill World Cup standings with 269 points, 12 ahead of Austrian Matthias Mayer and 13 ahead of Italian Dominik Paris.
Winner of yesterday's Super-G Marco Odermatt finished second behind Kilde by a mere 0.19 seconds. Swiss and Norwegian exchanged positions regarding yesterday's race. Odermatt was making his maiden World Cup appearance on the Lauberhorn Downhill.
"I really didn't expect it this time. It's getting harder every day. On Saturday it's a little different. Let's see what's inside. It's just right at the moment, you can't explain why it's going the way it is, but it's great. I wasn't under any pressure, which makes it easier", said Odermatt.
“He taught me how to (race) here. He is a big help for me in Downhill”, Odermatt said of his teammate Beat Feuz. He and Carlo Janka gave him a few tips and tricks on how to best master the treacherous sections such as the Kernen-S. "That's worth its weight in gold".
Beat Feuz finished in third place, +0.30 seconds behind Kilde. The three-time winner of Wengen's Downhill (2012, 2018, and 2020) was on the podium in the Lauberhorn a total of seven times (6 in DH and one in the Super Combined). "My performance was okay, but not great", said Feuz.
Carlo Janka showed a convincing performance in his first race of the season and in his second to last career race. Janka, who has been struggling with health problems for a long time, announced his retirement on Thursday and said goodbye with the two Downhill runs in Wengen. The 35-year-old finished in 11th place.
Carlo Janka chose to say goodbye to the white circus in the place that will have seen its most success in the World Cup: in Wengen, where he won three times. Janka won the Downhill in 2010, his best season, and the Alpine Combined in 2009 and 2015.
The hard-packed snow, cold temps, and superb sunshine weather set a super fast racecourse (allowing top speed above 150 kph on the Hanneggschuss) and some racers opt for unusual tactics to cut their speed on the narrow Alpweg section to prepare for a tight, slow S-shaped series of turns.
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