ALPINE:

GUAY GOLDEN AT GARMISCH! Cowboys retain world downhill crown

Feb. 12, 2011 

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Erik Guay of Canada won the men's downhill title at the World Championships on Saturday ahead of pre-race favourites Didier Cuche and Christof Innerhofer.

Guay sped down the 3.3-kilometer Kandahar course in 1 minute, 58.41 seconds, beating Cuche — the World Cup downhill champion from Switzerland — by 0.32 seconds.

Italy's Innerhofer, who won super-G gold on Wednesday, trailed Guay by 0.76 to place third.

"This is the best feeling in the world," said Guay, who wore bib No. 10 to start ahead of most top racers. "It's really amazing. Some of the best skiers in the world came down after me but my time stood. I had put my money on Cuche."

The 29-year-old Guay said winning skiing's most prestigious title "has always been on my to-do list. An incredible day."

Guay is the second consecutive Canadian winner of the world downhill title after 2009 champion John Kucera, who is recovering from breaking his left leg last season. They are the only Canadians to win the title.

Guay dedicated his victory to the injured racers on his team, which also included Manuel Osborne-Paradis.

"Our team has gone through hard times," Guay said. "So this title is also for them, who are recovering. They will be back."

Guay won three career World Cup races — two of them on the same course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His last win came at a super-G in March last year, which earned him the discipline's crystal globe.

"Somehow Garmisch has always been great to me," Guay said. "I don't think I realize what I've done, I am just very happy now."

Cuche, who won the past two World Cup downhills prior to the worlds — in Kitzbuehel, Austria, and Chamonix, France — came close to beating Guay as he led the Canadian by 0.23 at the first intermediate time.

However, Cuche went wide on a couple of turns and lost pace going into the final section. Cuche earned his country its first medal after Swiss racers placed fourth in all three previous races at the worlds — Cuche and Lara Gut in super-G and Dominique Gisin in super-combined.

"I am very glad with this result," Cuche said. "Before the start, I knew it would be hard to get into the top three. I think I won second place and not lost victory."

Cuche's teammate, Olympic downhill champion Didier Defago, is sitting out the entire season after tearing ligaments in his left knee.

Innerhofer started ninth and charged from the top. His right ski went up in the air after catching a bump, but he adjusted quickly and didn't seem to lose much speed.

His best time up to then, 1:59.17, was immediately bettered by Guay, who was flawless in the steep and turning middle part of the course.

"I felt no pressure, I had nothing to lose after taking the super-G," said Innerhofer, who was suffering from a fever Friday. "Pressure was on the other guys, I tried to relax though I wasn't as fresh anymore as in the super-G race."

Innerhofer was delighted with his showing in the event after collecting a second medal.

"I could only dream about championships like these," the Italian said. "You always start a race to win it. So did I in the past two years, but I finished on a podium only once."

Relatively high temperatures softened the snow on the slope, which earlier this week had been described by many racers as too icy and too bumpy.

"This proves that I am also fast if it's not very icy," Innerhofer said. "We trained a lot on soft snow in the last couple of years."

Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2007 world champion who was second and third in the training runs, avoided major mistakes, but could not keep up with the pace and finished 1.52 back in fifth.

He fell after crossing the finish line and crashed into the boarding. He initially appeared injured, but officials helped him to stand up after two minutes and he walked out of the finish area waving to the audience.

Bode Miller of the United States charged down in his usual fighting style, but the 2005 champion was obviously disadvantaged being only the 22nd starter as the course became weaker during the race. He finished 2.42 off the lead in 15th place.

Michael Walchhofer, the last Austrian to win the men's downhill world title in 2003, competed in his last major race before retiring at the end of the season.

The 35-year-old Austrian wasn't clean from the start and played catch-up throughout his run and finished 1.87 behind for seventh place.

"My run wasn't perfect, but even if it was, I would not have been 1.87 faster," Walchhofer said. "Visibility was not great, but that's no excuse as I was too far off the lead anyway."

Adrien Theaux, who was fastest in Friday's final training, misjudged a left turn early in his run and slid full speed into the safety nets. He lost both skis but appeared unhurt.

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

2011 Alpine World Championships men's downhill results