Vincent Kriechmayr secures home victory in Kitzbuhel downhill, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt falter

Updated 20/01/2023 at 13:20 GMT

It was another dramatic round of men's downhill action in Kitzbuhel. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt made big mistakes and did not trouble the podium places as a consequence. The home spectators in Austria were served up a treat as Vincent Kriechmayr stormed to victory. Florian Schieder and Niels Hintermann completed the podium positions.

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The home fans got the victory they craved, as Vincent Kriechmayr powered to victory in the downhill in Kitzbuhel.

In what was a dramatic day of racing in tough conditions, Kriechmayr hooked things up perfectly to clock a time of 1:56.16.

It was good enough to secure victory from Florian Schieder (1:56.39) and Niels Hintermann (1:56.47). However, Norwegian skier Henrik Roa suffered a nasty accident and broke his leg, having to be removed from the course via helicopter.

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“It means a lot,” Kriechmayr said. “For an Austrian downhiller to win in Kitzbuhel is just amazing. It is the most important World Cup race of the season and I tried everything.

“I pushed every metre. It was not the perfect run, but I was totally on the limit and it means a lot for me.”

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Marco Odermatt arrived in Austria as the two dominant racers in downhill this season, but both struggled.

In truth, Kilde and Odermatt did well to finish the race after dramatic moments.

Odermatt got Steilhang all wrong and almost found himself in the safety net. It cost him all chance of victory as he posted a time of 1:59.36. The Swiss superstar was seen limping heavily in the finish area, so it remains to be seen whether he can compete for the remainder of the weekend.

While Odermatt lost any hope of victory fairly early in his run, Kilde’s problems came towards the bottom.

After a relatively slow start, the Norwegian found perfect lines in the mid section and was eating into Kriechmayr’s lead when he got things all wrong.

He looked certain to fly into the safety netting but appeared to defy gravity as he landed on his right ski and made the turn with his left foot inches from the netting. Kilde came home in a time of 1:57.13 for a 16th-placed finish.

Kriechmayr was one of the early racers but had a nervous wait as conditions improved as the event progressed.

Schieder highlighted the improved conditions as the Italian came from 43 on the starting list to take second in a time of 1:56.39.

Britain's Roy-Alexander Steudle was the penultimate racer down the mountain and he recorded a time of 2:02.40 - which was 58th of the 58 racers.

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