Slashed in half because of foggy conditions that drastically reduced visibility, the infamous Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel was transformed Saturday from a “tiger into a kitten”.
But Norwegian winner Kjetil Jansrud insisted he was happy to have tamed that kitten despite his unhappiness with the organisers’ decision to reduce the course to a 1.6-kilometre-long ‘sprint’ rather than the terrifying 3.3km rollercoaster it normally is.
Starting with bib number 18, the Norwegian laid down a perfect line on the Streif piste to clock 58.16 seconds, two-hundredths ahead of Italian Dominik Paris with France’s Guillermo Fayed (+0.21) in third.
“Winning in Kitzbuehel has been a goal for many years and to make it happen is pretty extraordinary,” Jansrud said of his third downhill victory of the season.
Before setting off, Jansrud had given an indication of his displeasure by tweeting: “Start from Seidelalm. A tiger turned into a kitten, but still: Safety first. Will be a -very- tight race, but at least we’ll have one.”
He later said: “We’re all tough guys at the start and always want to race the full race.
“I wasn’t very happy when they decided to shorten the course. Normally my best section is up top.
“I was a little bummed out, but safety must come first and we could not have gone in that fog. Secondly it’s important there is a Kitzbuehel race.”
Jansrud added: “It makes a huge difference not skiing the top but it’s not the first time in history they’ve made a shorter race.
“But a race is a race and I’m happy to win this one. I’m looking forward to next year already.”
Jansrud said the shortening of the course had also upped the ante among the relatively small field of 45.
“Normally in Kitzbuehel there’s a nervousness and respect for the course, but when it’s shortened everyone wants to go aggressive, everyone changes their attitude,” he said of a course considered the circuit’s toughest.
“The speed was high and the bottom section was really, really difficult to ski.”
As Paris, winner of Friday’s super-G, came flying into the finish area, Jansrud’s face screwed up in angst as the Italian surged through the line.
“A picture says more than a 1,000 words!” joked the Norwegian, who later erupted in joy. “I was pretty sure he’d take the lead in the final run-in, but suddenly there was two-hundredths.”
One of the first people to congratulate Jansrud was compatriot Aksel Lund Svindal, now back in training after injury.
“It’s good to get a hug and see him,” Jansrud said.
“But it’s always worrying when you see a smiling and laughing Aksel in the finish area, it probably means his Achilles is good and he’ll have good results in the world championships!”
Jansrud gained 100 points for the victory, something he said was vital in his battle with Austrian Marcel Hirscher in the overall World Cup standings.
“It was important to keep up in the overall standings, I needed 100 points,” he said ahead of next month’s World Ski Championships in Colorado.
“I feel he’s a few metres ahead of me. Up until the end of January, it’s not as good as I hoped, but it’s not worse than feared.”