WENGEN, Switzerland — The rivalry between Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt flared up again during the World Cup downhill in Wengen.
Kilde edged Odermatt by 0.19 seconds to win a day after his Swiss friend won a super-G in another duel on the Lauberhorn mountain. The two have now won 11 of 19 men’s World Cup events this season.
“A lot of times we get our revenge on each other and it’s fun,” said Odermatt, who, like Kilde, is aiming for a first medal at the Beijing Olympics next month. He’s a great guy, we’re good friends.”
Beat Feuz finished third, 0.30 behind the Norwegian winner, as he sought a record fourth win at his home country’s classic race.
Kilde’s second downhill victory this season was the fifth of his career and the first on one of the historic mountains contested back-to-back in January — the Lauberhorn in Wengen and the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria.
“Winning the big classics has always been an important goal,” Kilde said. It was a dream day.”
This victory earned him 100 points and propelled him to the top of the discipline standings. The overall champion of the 2020 World Cup nevertheless barely closed the gap on Odermatt in the general classification.
Odermatt’s consistent results saw him take an overall lead of almost 400 points with his six wins over Kilde’s five in 19 events.
James Crawford proved to be the best Canadian in the event with a 16th place, 1.48 seconds behind the winner. Broderick Thompson placed 33rd and Cameron Alexander finished 40th. Brodie Seger finished 42nd, just ahead of Jeffrey Read.
Odermatt’s second place in the first-ever downhill in Wengen was impressive as he proved to be faster than Feuz, his teammate and four-time reigning World Cup downhill champion.
Hard snow and bright sunshine on a cold day ensured a fast race with American Bryce Bennett reaching top speed above 151km/h, good for seventh place, 0.95 behind the winner.
Another descent on the Lauberhorn track is scheduled for Saturday.