Ghedina Routs Austrians at Beaver Creek

Vail, CO, December 4--Italy's Kristian Ghedina achieved any ski racer's dream today at Beaver Creek, Colorado, by winning his first race of the season. The 28-year-old athlete from Cortina d'Ampezzo celebrated his 8th World Cup success in beating by 22/100 of a second Jean Luc Cretier from France and by 24/100 of a second the 1996 Overall World Cup champion Lasse Kjus.
The best representative of the Austrian team--who dominated Wednesday's training run--was Josef Strobl at fourth place. His teammates Roland Assinger and Fritz Strobl finished just behind him and four more among the top 10. Hermann Maier, the fastest man down the mountain in training, held a promising ninth place while his main rival for the Overall World Cup, Norway's Kjetil Aamodt, came fourteenth . It's the first time that Maier could finish a World Cup downhill. Last winter he crashed and broke a hand at in his first ever downhill race in Chamonix, France.
The Swiss had one of their worst days in the history of World Cup downhill racing: the best of them, Didier Cuche, only came 15th . The reigning World Champion Bruno Kernen was 19th. The best American, Kyle Rasmussen, came 24th and the Olympic Champion Tommy Moe placed 26th. Another US skier, AJ Kitt also edged into the top 30, at 29th place. Not a bad result for this team plagued by bad luck and injury last season. Aamodt is still in the lead in the intermediate Overall standings with 257 points, eight more than Maier and 47 more than Josef Strobl.
Ghedina's success is in a way as unexpected as Austria's defeat: he didn't seem to like the course that much during the timed trials, in which he never entered the top-10. But on race day, he was able to put together a great run which surprised even himself. "It's true that I don't feel comfortable on such a kind of course which has too narrow turns in the middle section but I was able to start with a very positive attitude," he explained after the race.
"I knew that I could do very well on the very fast bottom and that I wouldn't lose too much time in the first flat part so I tried to be very focused and clean in this steep part which suits more to the GS skiers" he added. "I think I had a really great day. It's a wonderful feeling to have done so well on such a course. It reinforces my confidence for the rest of the season."
Ghedina also spoke of his hopes to win the downhill title. "With some luck I may eventually win the downhill World Cup, which I missed twice in a row this past season."
In addition to boosting his long term goals, the Italian seemed pleased at upsetting the much-favored Australians. "I think that Luc Alphand can be proud of our having defeated the Austrians. May be there were overconfident after yesterday's training. It's also possible that they tried to hard. It's easy to make mistakes when you put too much pressure on yourself. This win is very relaxing for me : I know that I have trained well and that I'm ready for another strong season. My first wish is to remain healthy throughout the winter".
This is also Jean Luc Cretier's main hope. The veteran among all the participants lost the last two seasons because of bad knee and ankle injuries. He was also handicapped by some material problems but his supplier, Salomon, was able to produce a great gear during the past summer.
"The constellation is just perfect in this moment" said Cretier who hasn't finished on the podium since January 1994. "I'm in excellent shape and relaxed because we trained very well in the last months. I liked this course from the first moment on and it was nice to see that my skis were running very fast. It's time for me to catch up what I have lost in the last three winters. Luc Alphand is a great inspiration for me. He has proven that you can be very competitive at 30 and over."
"I called home and I talked to my son," he added. "He was so happy for me too. Its just　a perfect day."
Another downhill is planned for this Friday and everybody expects the Austrians and the Swiss to fight back. Lasse Kjus is also a strong contender. The 1996 Overall World Cup champion was very pleased by his third place, his best performance since the season started at Tignes last month.
He especially enjoys racing in Colorado where he won his very first World Cup race in 1995. "It's a very challenging course and you need to be very precise in these tricky turns in the middle part" he said. "This result gives me great momentum after my disappointing season start. I know where I'm now and what I need to improve. The season is still long and it will be important to save as much energy for the next months and the Olympics. That's why Kjetil and myself don't want to compete in the Downhill at Val d'Isere next week. We rather go home to rest a little before the Giant Slalom".

Did not finish 1st run:
DORIGO Daniel (ITA), KNAUSS Hans (AUT), PERATHONER Ulrich (ITA), RUPP Heinrich (SUI), BEAR AJ (AUS), KRAUSS Stefan (GER), MULLEN Cary (CAN), RAUFFER Max (GER)

Disqualified 1st run:
STEMMLE Brian (CAN)