ALPINE SKI. Also the men kicked off their World Championships Åre 2019 with today’s super-g. And the gold medal went to Italy’s Dominik Paris, who finished ahead of Johan Clarey and Vincent Kriechmayr, both tied in second place.

As on the previous day with the ladies, the men’s super-g was a very tight race. South Tyrolean Dominik Paris didn’t have much information on the course when he came down with bib number 3, and wasn’t really satisfied with his race when he crossed the finish line. But as the other racers came down, he realized that the course was very demanding and that it was very difficult to lay down a clear run. In the end, the 4-times Kitzbuehel winner, who already claimed not less than six podium spots on the World Cup Tour this season, could celebrate his first World Champion title.

Vincent Kriechmayr won both speed races on the very same hill in Are at the World Cup Finals last season. So he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially from him as he really wanted to be able to show his best skiing. Today’s run was pretty close. Despite a mistake in the Kanonröret, the Upper Austrian skied a clean and strong run, and finished only +0.09 off the winning pace from Dominik Paris. The current leader of the World Cup standings in this discipline was collecting 4th places in the last races and is very relieved to have made the step on the podium today.

Super-G has a new top athlete. After years on the World Cup Tour focusing on the downhill, Johan Clarey made a huge step in super-g this season, claiming his first podium in this discipline two weeks ago in Kitzbuehel. The French skier is very relaxed and takes every day as a new chance, without putting pressure on his shoulders. And this attitude allowed him to become the oldest World Championship medalist in the history today, by claiming silber together with Vincent Kriechmayr. It’s the first medal at a big event for Johan Clarey.

The men’s Tour will now switch into downhill mode and will have the first official training run tomorrow at 12:30. There will be two trainings before one of the most anticipated days at the World Championships: the men’s downhill on Saturday.

FIS alpine
06 Feb 2019

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