Swiss skier Viletta win’s gold in men’s super combined

Swiss skier Sandro Viletta won the men’s super combined event Friday at the Sochi Olympics, earning his country’s fifth gold medal overall.

The 28yearold completed the two events downhill and slalom in a winning time of 2:45.20, beating out Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, the goldmedal favorite, by .34.

The result was a major disappointment for the 34yearold Kostelic, who also won the silver in Vancouver in 2010 and in Turin in 2006.

Italy’s Christof Innerhofer picked up the bronze with a total time of 2:45.67. He had earlier won silver in the downhill event.

Viletta stood in just 14th place after the downhill portion of the super combined, but a stellar run in the slalom, in which he posted the secondbest time overall, gave him the gold.

“I didn’t expect to win,” the Swiss said afterward of his victory in the only event he entered in Sochi. “I knew that I could ski fast. I like the snow and this was my chance.”

Kostelic, meanwhile, lamented another missed chance at gold.

“I’m a ‘Silver Surfer,’” the Croat said. “Actually, it’s funny, because way before this time, my gaming nickname was ‘Silver Surfer,’ so probably I made my own destiny. ... People on the podium have changed, and I stayed there.”

Another Swiss, Dario Cologna, won gold Friday in the 15 K classical crosscountry race with a time of 38:29.7, handily defeating a pair of Swedes, Johan Olsson and Daniel Richardsson, who took the silver and bronze, respectively.