Speed races in the Olympic Games in China

Great conditions in the downhill course in the Beijing Olympic Games. The downhill king Beat Feuz (SUI) completed his collection of victories with his first Olympic gold, closely followed by the super veteran Johan Clarey (FRA) 0.10 second behind with silver, and always present in championships, Matthias Mayer (AUT) with bronze. The big favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde did a bit less precise than what he has done lately and finished number five. Adrian Smiseth Sejersted fought for a medal after having passed the fourth intermediate, but he made a mistake and was number 11.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde with bib number 7 did a race that looked like a gold race and had e lead of one second at finish and showed and showed how satisfied he was with that. Just after Adrian Smiseth Sejersted came in to double Norwegian. But then the gold winner from the last Olympic Games, Matthias Mayer, did a fantastic last glide stretch and came in 0.42 second before Kilde. After that Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) showed that he has recovered after the ugly accident in Kitzbuhel last year and finshed 0.04 second behind Mayer. By this he followed up his mother's gold from the Olympics in 1972. Kilde by this got his first championship medal with bronze and has passed a boundary after some fourth positions. The fourth place this time went to Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, who shows us that he is a top alpine racer in the speed events.

In the Olympic Games there still is an Alpine Combination, even if it is gone from the World Cup and European Cup. Not unexpected, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was in the lead after the downhill, but he and others probably thought that some good Slalom racers were a little too close. The big surprise in the Slalom race in Adelboden in January, Johannes Strolz (AUT), copied his father from the Olympic Games in 1988 and won the combination. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde did an unbelievably good Slalom run with start number 1 and ended with a silver medal. He now has two Oympic medals this week. James Crawford (CAN), who was close behind Kilde after the downhill run, took the bronzse.

Kjetil Jansrud has won medals in the thre previous Olympic Games, and we probably had a hope for a continuation. He managed to everybody's surprise to recover enough after injury before Christmas that he came to the Olympics as a participant. He did not start in the Downhill to aim at the Super-G, but it appeared that his form did not give the necessary speed to compete in the top. He ended as number 23.