Vincent Kriechmayr defies coronavirus outcry in Switzerland over participation to win Wengen downhill
BySportsbeat
Updated 15/01/2022 at 15:51 GMT
The Austrian missed the midweek training runs that are typically a requirement to compete due to quarantining with Covid-19 but was granted permission to race. Kriechmayr was isolating in his home country of Austria after testing positive for Covid and only arrived at the Swiss resort late on Wednesday.
Vincent Kriechmayr
Image credit: Getty Images
Vincent Kriechmayr won his first Alpine Ski World Cup event of the season despite outcry over the fact that he was competing in the Wengen downhill race at all.
Kriechmayr was isolating in his home country of Austria after testing positive for Covid and only arrived at the Swiss resort late on Wednesday.
That was after the two midweek training runs that are typically mandatory for any skier if they want to take part in a downhill race, for safety reasons.
However, race officials cleared the Austrian to participate in what is the longest race on the World Cup circuit at 4.27km, and later insisted he had not been given special treatment under International Ski Federation rules.
Kriechmayr took full advantage of his reprieve as his time of 2:26.09 was enough to take victory, 0.34s ahead of home favourite Beat Feuz - a result that won't do anything to ease the Austrian-Swiss alpine skiing rivalry given the controversial circumstances.
Dominik Paris took bronze, 0.44s behind Kriechmayr, and that was enough to move the Italian top of the downhill standings on 316 points - 11 ahead of both Feuz and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won Friday's downhill event and finished seventh 24 hours later, in joint-second.
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