Entering the day, Italy’s Dominik Paris was ranked second in downhill World Cup points, more than 100 points behind the season leader, Switzerland’s Beat Feuz.
Feuz, skiing two racers ahead of Paris in Kvitfjell, Norway today, laid down a run more than a second faster than then-current leader, Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Paris stepped into the gate knowing he had to be on the podium -- preferably on top of it -- if he wanted a chance to win his first World Cup crystal globe as the season draws to a close.
Paris fearlessly attacked the course, and crossed the finish .25 hundredths of a second ahead of Feuz and picked up his third World Cup downhill win of the season.
With the win, Paris earned 100 World Cup points. However, Feuz held on to the lead in the downhill point standings, earning 80 points for his second place finish. Things could get interesting with one final downhill race remaining on the schedule for the season. Both men will need to be at their best if they hope to walk away with the crystal globe in Soldeu, Andorra on March 13.
The U.S.’ Steve Nyman had his best downhill race since December, finishing seventh on the day, while his teammate, and frequent top-10 finisher, Bryce Bennett ended up in 12th place.
On Sunday, the men are scheduled to race in the Super-G. Watch live beginning at 5:00 a.m. ET on TV and streaming on Olympic Channel and NBC Sports Gold.
The women’s World Cup tour was supposed to race this weekend in Sochi, Russia, but snow and wind have kept athletes off the mountain since Wednesday. It’s the first World Cup event in Sochi since the 2014 Olympics. Despite the lack of racing, the U.S.’ Mikaela Shiffrin, not even entered in the events this weekend, had enough points banked from previous racing to mathematically win her third-consecutive overall World Cup title.
Efforts are now focused on salvaging what’s left of the weekend, with race officials hoping to have a skiable Super-G course ready for Sunday at Rosa Khutor. If successful, racing is set to begin at 2:30 a.m. ET, with live coverage on TV and streaming on Olympic Channel and NBC Sports Gold.