Vincent Kriechmayr set to miss Wengen downhills but cleared to compete in Super-G after leaving isolation

ByHarry Latham Coyle

Updated 13/01/2022 at 09:31 GMT

Kriechmayr missed both downhill training runs on the Lauberhorn on Tuesday and Wednesday with Austrian authorities not clearing him to leave isolation, despite the Austrian ski federation urging officials to release the 30-year-old. That means he will almost certainly not be allowed to start Friday and Saturday's races - but has been cleared to compete in Thursday's Super-G.

Vincent Kriechmayr is set to miss the two men's World Cup downhills in Wengen after missing both training runs on the Lauberhorn after testing positive for Covid-19.

Kriechmayr was absent from Tuesday's first training run on the Lauberhorn in strange circumstances, with a statement from the Austrian ski federation (OSV) suggesting he was "yet to receive a negative test" having tested positive.

The OSV urged Austrian authorities to allow him to leave quarantine, but clearance did not come until Wednesday afternoon - after the second training run.

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FIS rules state that skiers are only able to compete in the downhill if they have completed at least one training run, which means Kriechmayr is set to miss out on the double assault of the classic Swiss slope.

However Kriechmayr will be allowed to compete in Thursday's Super-G, for which there are no training runs, and thus no requirement to complete one.

"Vincent Kriechmayr has been released from quarantine by the Austrian authorities with immediate effect and is on the way to Wengen," read a statement from the OSV on Wednesday afternoon.

"Vincent can start tomorrow in the Super-G."

Kriechmayr powers to downhill gold at World Champs

The rescheduled Super-G will be just the second ever World Cup race in the discipline held in Wengen.

One of seven rounds of the 2021-22 season, it had been due to be held in Lake Louise, Canada in November, and then the Italian resort of Bormio last month, but was twice postponed due to weather.

Norwegian star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde leads the World Cup standings, taking victory in the last three races having failed to finish the season opener in Beaver Creek.

Kriechmayr is fourth, trailing Kilde by 90 points.

The Austrian took victory in the fearsome Lauberhorn downhill in 2019, a race which was absent from the World Cup calendar last year due to the pandemic.

He is the reigning double world champion in the two speed disciplines having claimed an outstanding twin triumph in Cortina d'Ampezzo in February 2021, and shapes as among the favourites to challenge for gold at Beijing 2022.

Kriechmayr is, however, yet to win in the 2021-22 World Cup season.

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