Kriechmayr wins World Cup super-G

 Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr claimed the first World Cup win of his career on Friday after speeding to victory in the men's super-G at Beaver Creek in Colorado.

The 26-year-old came home in 1 min 9.71 sec, to deny Norway's Olympic champion Kjetil Jansrud a second straight victory following his win in Canada last weekend.

Jansrud was second in 1:09.94, with another Austrian, Hannes Reichelt third in 1:10.04.

France's Adrien Theaux and Alexis Pinturault were fourth and fifth respectively, two weeks after team-mate David Poisson died in a training accident in Nakiska, Canada.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, a winner in the super-G at Beaver Creek in 2008, was in sixth spot with 1:10.31.

Kriechmayr, the third man down the challenging "Birds of Prey" course, regarded as one of the most difficult on the circuit, faced a nervous wait to confirm his maiden victory.

Compatriot Reichelt looked to be threatening his intermediate times before finishing third quickest.

Svindal also appeared poised to challenge but an error midway through the course shunted him down the standings.

That just left Jansrud as the main threat, but the Norwegian was off the pace at most of the intermediate marks.

"I knew I had a pretty clean run but I wasn't getting too excited until Kjetil had gone," Kriechmayr said. "I am very proud to have beaten the Norwegians."

Jansrud's second place meanwhile saw him consolidate his lead at the top of the World Cup standings following his win last weekend at Lake Louise.

Jansrud leads the standings with 225 points, with Kriechmayr second with 158 points and Svindal third on 145 points.

The Beaver Creek leg will see a downhill on Saturday followed by a giant slalom on Sunday.

Source: AFP