Second Men's Downhill
Italy's Kristian Ghedina missed by only 11/100 of a second his dream to win his second back-to-back downhill in Val Gardena where Austria's Andreas Schifferer surprised all the favorites to win his seventh World Cup downhill. Hermann Maier was 3rd, 11/100 behind Ghedina and only 2/100 in front of Josef Strobl, 2nd on Friday. Norway's Kjetil Aamodt reached a promising 5th place at 40/100 from the podium.

	Schifferer

Canada's Ed Podivinsky, went down from 3rd to 10th place, yet was pleased all the same by his runs. Three other Canadians scored points, including the promising Darin McBeath, 25th, while the best US skier was Jakub Fiala, 38th. Chris Puckett survived a bad crash yet safely reached the finish line.

Andreas Schifferer is a specialist of double downhills — during the 1997-'98 season, three times he won the second race, in Beaver Creek, Bormio and Wengen, and last March he remained unbeaten two days in a row in Norway's Kvitfjell, the site of the 1994 Olympic run. Friday, he had to be content with a far 10th place - quite a disappointment for the 1998 downhill World Cup winner.

"I was much more aggressive this time, more concentrated too. It's as if I need a last tough test to figure out what my limits are before fighting back....." — Andreas Schifferer

"I changed everything from yesterday to today — my attitude, my skis and my line," Schifferer said at the finish line. "I was much more aggressive this time, more concentrated too. It's as if I need a last tough test to figure out what my limits are before fighting back.

"I must say that I achieved an almost perfect run today and it's a great feeling to do so on this classic run. It's too early to know if I have recovered my best form from 1998, but for sure I feel fine since I finished 3rd at Beaver Creek in giant slalom," Schifferer, Hermann Maier's roomate, added.

At the finish line it was obvious in Hermann Maier's face that he was expecting more today after an excellent first part of the course. The reigning World Champion this time lost a better position over the middle "camel bumps" where he had to get out of his tuck to land safely after a long jump.

"I felt that I was fast and I took a more direct line this time but I took too much air on the jump," he said.

"I had to open my arms to keep my balance" he added. "I had a good chance today but I blew it myself. Experience is so important in this discipline. There are still many downhills ahead and I hope to remain in good health for a while."

In Sunday's giant slalom held on the demanding "Gran Risa" course at Alta Badia, Maier will have a hard time remaining unbeaten in giant slalom after four days of downhill skiing. "It's hard to think that you have to ski against specialists who were able to train quietly in giant slalom. Most of them will be much more focused than the racers who just competed here," Maier said today.

It was obviously not the Ghedina from the previous day who skied on the demanding "Saslong" course on Saturday. The stress and the celebrations which followed his impressive win yesterday, as well as the bad lighting on the course, prevented him from fighting again with the same energy in this third downhill of the season.

After a mistake on the first jump, situated in the upper part of the run where he already was 61/100 behind the fastest man in action, "The Herminator" himself, "Ghedo" lost the race in the same spot he had crushed his rivals yesterday - on the treacherous and icy turns of the "Ciaslat."

"I was not as aggressive as before in this section, mainly because I was scared at the previous camel jumps where I flew too far," he said. "My legs were shaky when I entered the Ciaslat and I didn't manage to keep the same pressure on my skis as yesterday. I lost much speed and momentum coming out of these turns and I didn't glide as fast on the last speed section. "I felt that the victory was in my hand but that I was losing it," a disappointed Ghedina said.

"Two races in two days are really tough, especially for the winner. It's hard to find back your best concentration and to attack again, but I don't want to complain – I'm satisfied with this collection of top-3 places since the season start. It's a nice Christmas gift for me.

"I will go back with great pleasure to Chamonix, where I won the last downhill in 1997. In fact, I have won on each of the next three courses in Chamonix, Wengen and Kitzbuhel," Ghedina added.

	Maier

"In November, I was really impressed by Hermann Maier's achievements and I was afraid that he would win everything. But now, I feel able to challenge him in the downhill World Cup standings. I will try to pass him next month in Chamonix," he said.

In today's giant slalom at Alta Badia, the experienced Michael von Grunigen will be the skier to beat. After twice coming in 2nd, the Swiss is aiming for more on this course, on which he won last year. Also fighting for more success is Austria's Christian Mayer, a winner here in 1997. He was leading the first run in Val d'Isère before it had to be called off due to bad weather.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent