Reigning FIS Alpine Ski World Cup downhill champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde on Saturday outdueled Marco Odermatt to win the men’s World Cup downhill at Beaver Creek, Colorado, despite feeling the effects of flu.
Norway’s Kilde clocked 1 minute, 42.09 seconds on a windy Birds of Prey course, where he won both the downhill and super-G last season.
The 30-year-old then watched Odermatt challenge for the top step of the podium only to come up six-hundredths of a second short with 1 minute, 42.15 seconds.
Photo: AFP
In addition to the tough conditions, Kilde was fighting flu-like symptoms this weekend.
“It has been a tough week,” he said. “I caught the flu in Lake Louise after a nice weekend. It hit me really hard. I skied in clothes to have no sweat and take down everything a notch. I felt way better yesterday and that was fantastic.”
“I still felt it a bit today, but had enough strength for the two minutes I needed,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Meanwhile, Sofia Goggia of Italy won her second women’s World Cup downhill race in as many days at Lake Louise, Canada.
Goggia only got stronger on Saturday, finishing with a time of 1 minute, 28.96 seconds. She withstood a late charge by Austria’s Nina Ortlieb, who started way back with bib No. 26 and wound up 0.34 seconds behind.
“I skied exactly the way I wanted to in my head,” Goggia said. “I was reading well the terrain.”
Thirty-year-old Goggia is dominating the Lake Louise downhill track in a way not seen since the days of Lindsey Vonn.
Goggia has now won four straight World Cup downhills on this course, including two last season.
Additional reporting by AP
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