Italy's Paris wins 1st career World Cup super-G; France's Pinturault dominates combined event | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Italy's Paris wins 1st career World Cup super-G; France's Pinturault dominates combined event

Andrew Weibrecht, of United States, celebrates in the finish area after completing an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G in Kitzbuehel, Austria, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Original Publication Date January 23, 2015 - 6:45 AM

KITZBUEHEL, Austria - Italian skier Dominik Paris won his first career World Cup super-G, and Alexis Pinturault of France dominated the combined event for his eighth victory on Friday.

Two years after his victory in the classic Hahnenkamm downhill on the same course, Paris finished the Streif in 1 minute, 9.99 seconds to beat Austrians Matthias Mayer by 0.06 seconds and Georg Streitberger by 0.34,

"I had a good feeling but I didn't think I was going to win today," said Paris, who won silver in downhill at the 2013 world championships, and whose previous three World Cup wins all came in that discipline.

"I like this hill," he added. "When you are in good shape you can take risks. And I attacked it all the way down."

Paris hadn't won in his last 21 World Cups, his longest winning drought since his first victory in Bormio in December 2012.

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud was 0.78 back in seventh and remained in the lead of the discipline standings with 316 points, followed by Paris on 285.

"It wasn't a perfect run," said Jansrud, a winner of two super-Gs this season. "No big mistakes but tactical mistakes. I didn't take enough risks."

The super-G was a separate World Cup race, but also counted as the first portion of the combined event, which was completed by a floodlit slalom.

Pinturault, who also won the event last year, finished in an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 1.36 seconds to defeat overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.69 and Ondrej Bank of the Czech Republic by 0.94.

"It wasn't easy after the tough super-G. I had to push really hard," the Frenchman said.

Hirscher, who finished the super-G 2.78 off the lead in 44th, extended his lead in the overall standings. The three-time defending champion landed on 916 points, followed by Jansrud on 734 and Pinturault on 611.

Apart from Jansrud, most favourites for the downhill skipped the slalom to save energy for Saturday's race, the marquee event of the three-day Hahnenkamm event.

Mayer didn't compete in the slalom, either.

"Getting beaten by 0.06 is bitter," the Olympic downhill champion said. "Tomorrow is another chance for a win. I will use the afternoon for my preparations."

Ted Ligety, the world champion in super-G and super-combined, failed to finish. The American was the first starter and missed a gate after landing from a jump toward the end of his run.

Ligety's teammate, Andrew Weibrecht, placed fifth in the super-G for his career-best World Cup result.

"It's a great run for me," said the Olympic super-G silver medallist , who finished 18th in the combined event. "I was aggressive, stuck to my plan."

The super-G was interrupted for 20 minutes following a nasty crash by Switzerland's Marc Gisin, who was taken to hospital by helicopter. The Swiss ski team said Gisin had a mild concussion but escaped other injuries.

News from © The Associated Press, 2015
The Associated Press

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