WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Aleksander Aamodt Kilde spoiled a Swiss party Friday by winning a World Cup super-G on the country’s storied Lauberhorn mountain.
The Norwegian blew kisses to the noisy local fans in the finish area after edging home racers Stefan Rogentin and Marco Odermatt. Kilde, the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist in super-G, also held his arms out wide as if asking for the crowd to forgive him.
Rogentin, who got a career-best result in second place with his first podium finish at age 28, was 0.27 seconds behind Kilde. Odermatt trailed Kilde by 0.66 seconds to extend his streak of top-three finishes in super-G to four races this season.
With lower-ranked racers yet to start, the strong Swiss team had three more men in the top 10, including seventh-place Beat Feuz in one of his farewell races. The 35-year-old Olympic downhill champion will retire after racing next weekend in Kitzbühel, Austria.
Odermatt retained his big lead over Kilde in the overall standings. The 25-year-old Swiss racer is the defending champion while Kilde won the giant crystal globe in 2020.
Kilde won the World Cup super-G title last year and cut Odermatt’s lead in the discipline standings to only 28 points with the 100 he gained Friday. They have combined to win all four super-G races.
Racing on a bright, clear day, the Norwegian was fastest in the top section. That speed carried him on an adventurous ride through the S-section — one of the signature features of the long Lauberhorn course.
Kilde’s 18 career wins in the World Cup now include nine in each of the speed events, super-G and downhill. He won the Lauberhorn downhill last year ahead of Odermatt and Feuz and will go for a repeat on Saturday in arguably Switzerland’s most prized sports event.
Two super-G races canceled from Lake Louise, Alberta, and Val Gardena, Italy, have been rescheuled for Jan. 28-29 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. That weekend became free when a lack of snow in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, forced a downhill and a giant slalom to be canceled.
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