Austrians Able to Tame Grizzly Course

An Austrian won the men’s Olympic downhill before a snow-packed crowd of more than 23,000.

So what if it wasn’t the favored Austrian.

An American finished in the top 10.

So what if it wasn’t the favored American.

There’s a reason they race and don’t give medals based on predictions, and there were plenty of twists and turns Sunday on the Grizzly course.

In the end, Fritz Strobl made Austria proud with a gold-medal winning time of 1 minute 39.13 seconds on a frigid but sun-soaked slope of 1.95 miles.

Norwegian veteran Lasse Kjus, who figured to be more of a threat in the upcoming combined, won the silver at 1:39.35 while everybody’s downhill favorite, Austria’s Stephan Eberharter, claimed the bronze with a time of 1:39.41.

Kjus knows all about finishing second. His silver was his 14th medal in Olympic and world championship competition. Kjus has finished second 10 times, although he did win the gold in combined at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.

Kjus seemed happy to break up an Austrian blockade.

“I think that we needed ... one more country on the podium,” he joked.

It was a bad day for one American from Lake Tahoe, Daron Rahlves, but a good one for another, Marco Sullivan.

Rahlves who appeared to be a medal contender after finishing third in the first downhill training run, literally took a flying leap off Flintlock Jump near the top of the course and lost enough time to end up finishing 16th, 1.71 seconds behind the winner.

“I had some good hang time,” Rahlves joked.

Hang time is good in basketball and something to enjoy with family and friends, but not always a good thing in skiing.

Rahlves, the reigning world champion in super-giant slalom, made a super mistake when he lifted off from Flintlock and caught wind like a seagull over a bluff.

“I got huge, huge air,” Rahlves said of his huge, huge error. “I had to fight to stay ahead of it from there on down.”

It wasn’t an all-bagel breakfast for Team USA. Sullivan, a 21-year-old upstart who was not supposed to start making news until the 2006 Games, popped a sensational run from the 31st starting position to finish ninth.

Asked afterward what it felt like to finish better than Rahlves, Sullivan said, “Did I beat Rahlves? All right!”

With Rahlves failing to deliver, the partisan crowd quickly threw rousing vocal support behind Sullivan as he made tracks toward the finish line.

“No one expected it,” he said. “I ski good under pressure. This is a huge event. I just charged down the hill as hard as I could. I’m just stoked I’m in the top 10. That’s what I was shooting for.”

Top-10 finishes for the Austrians are expected, of course, and the world’s top ski country did not disappoint, placing three skiers among the top six.

It was only a slight upset that Strobl bested Eberharter for the gold medal. Eberharter has dominated the World Cup circuit this season with nine victories, yet Strobl has been perched right behind his teammate in the downhill standings.

“I don’t want to talk about beating Stephan Eberharter or any teammate,” Strobl said. “I’m not out to beat anybody when I ski.”

Strobl was no doubt trying to deflect media criticism for Eberharter’s “failure” to win the Olympic gold.

With Austrian star Hermann Maier out of these Games, the result of a motorcycle accident last summer, Eberharter was expected to emerge as the star.

Eberharter did his best to downplay Sunday’s result. Finishing only 0.28 of a second behind Strobl, it wasn’t as though he tripped over his skis.

“I always said life can go a different way,” Eberharter said. “I had a good night, a good morning and a good race. A bronze-medal race.”

Eberharter still has a chance to better Maier’s 1998 performance in Nagano. After crashing in the downhill, Maier rebounded to win the gold in super-giant slalom and giant slalom. Eberharter will be among the favorites in both races.

“I have a great start with a bronze,” Eberharter said, “I have two more chances to make medals.”

Rahlves also will get a chance at redemption in Saturday’s super-G, his best event.

He defeated Maier and Eberharter in Austria last year to claim the super-G crown at the world championships.

“I’m really disappointed,” Rahlves said of his 16th-place finish Sunday.

“I came out here to be the fastest man on the mountain today. I’m still kind of in a daze, I’m not letting it sink in too much. It’s tough. It was the biggest race of my career today. It’s a good thing I’ve got the super-G coming up next Saturday.”

Two other Americans finished in the top 30. Jakub Fiala was 27th in a time of 1:41.84 and Scott Macartney was 29th in 1:41.86.