09.02 Austria’s Mayer Takes Olympic Downhill Skiing Gold as Stars Fizzle

ROSA KHUTOR, Russia, February 9 (R-Sport) – Austria’s Matthias Mayer became the surprise gold medalist in Sochi Olympic men’s downhill skiing Sunday as big names like Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal missed the podium.

Mayer, who had never before won a major race, mastered the fast and complex middle section of the course to take the gold by 0.06 seconds from Italy’s Christof Innerhofer.

Kjetil Landsrud won the bronze 0.04 seconds further back, forcing his fellow Norwegian and reigning downhill world champion Svindal into fourth place, 0.29 seconds off the lead.

"Top to bottom, I think too many mistakes," Svindal said. "I mean, they’re small mistakes, but 29 hundredths is a small margin too and they definitely cost that."

Despite Mayer's dark horse status, Svindal said the Austrian's win was "not a surprise at all" after he produced some "consistent" performances in training.

Miller, the 36-year-old five-time Olympic medalist from the U.S., had to settle for eighth place after a costly slip halfway down the Rosa Khutor course spoiled his chances for victory. Miller had entered the race as the favorite for gold after dominating in training.

"I feel disappointed. I skied hard and well, and that's the most important thing. It just didn't go all right," Miller said.

In overcast and rather warm conditions, Mayer’s start was far from the best, but his mastery of the middle section of the course was telling. That section included some turns similar to super-G, the Austrian’s favored discipline, but also some extremely steep plunges. The 23-year-old Austrian was a true outsider for the gold medal, having never medaled in a World Cup downhill, with just two second places in super-G to his name.

Innerhofer was easily the strongest challenger, dipping more than half a second below Mayer’s time with an aggressive start, but that advantage melted away at the halfway point. Swiss veteran Dider Defago, the surprise Olympic champion in 2010, was also faster than Mayer at the top of the mountain but ran wide on a turn and trailed in 14th, 1.56 seconds off the pace.

Miller had warned Saturday that the Rosa Khutor track could be fatal, following a spate of training crashes, but safety fears failed to materialize Sunday. There were no crashes and only one athlete, France’s Johan Clarey, failed to finish.

For the host nation, Alexander Glebov did well to finish 23rd, above two members of the U.S. team.