06 FEB 2001 > Men's Combined
14th Medal for Kjetil-Andre Aamodt
Combined Results
Kjetil-Andre Aamodt clinched his 14th medal at a major event since 1991 in the men's combined at St. Anton. The 28-year-old Norwegian ski veteran clinched his third consecutive title in combined, the sixth gold medal in his career (not counting his numerous triumphs as a junior racer).

Aamodt finished by 68/100 of a second ahead the Tyrolean hero, Mario Matt, while Switzerland's Paul Accola was 3rd. Accola was the fastest in the downhill event in which Aamodt clocked the 4th and Matt the 7th fasted times.

"I went for a tactical run..."

Aamodt now leads now the list of medal winners ahead of his friend Lasse Kjus and Austrian-born Marc Girardelli, who used to race for Luxemburg and won 13 medals during his career.

He desperately needed this success to enhance a disappointing season so far. He has only reached two podiums this season, and he has no chance of challenging Hermann Maier in the overall World Cup standings as in recent years.

"It was important for me to win this competition, and I was quite nervous today. The conditions on the downhill course were brutal," he said. "I went for a tactical run, but Matt had a strong race too.

Aamodt plans to compete until the 2006 Olympics if he stays healthy. He hopes to improve his technique and win a gold medal in downhill -- the only gold he lacks.

Bode Miller, one of the other favorites for the victory, suffered a bad crash, injuring his knee and preventing him from competing in the upcoming technical events. He was flown back home for medical inspection at Dr. Richard Steadman's clinic in Vail, Colorado.

Matt, 2nd in the slalom, was delighted after his run on the treacherous Karl Schranz downhill course on which he lost only half a second on Aamodt. It was a strong performance for the slalom racer who hasn't competed in downhill in two years.

"It was exciting to compete at home in front of such a great crowd. This silver medal is worth more to me than any previous World Cup success. I didn't really expect a medal in combined. It was not really part of my goal because it's a really difficult event and I don't have much experience in downhill."

The next men's race is Wednesday — the downhill postponed from last Saturday.

05 FEB 2001 > Men's Combined Slalom
Aamodt Leads Combined After Slalom
Norway's Kjetil Aamodt currently leads the combined event after the first race. The event started Monday evening with a slalom and will continue Tuesday with a downhill. The winner will be determined by combining the results of these two vastly diverse events.

The 1997 and 1999 defending combined champion beat Austria's Mario Matt by 14/100 of a second, while Rainer Schoenfelder was 3rd by over half a second. USA's Bode Miller was 4th.

The US Ski Team has been fighting for medals since the start of these World Championships.

Last week, Megan Gerety and Caroline Lalive were two of the top contenders in women's super G and combined, respectively, while Daron Rahlves celebrated an historical win over Austria's heroes in the men's super G.

Now, in the men's combined event, USA's Bode Miller is also aiming for a world title.

Miller is currently 1.15 seconds behind the leading Aamodt, but this isn't bad considering he almost crashed out in the second run. "I was quite lucky to finish this slalom. I thought I would ski out at that tricky middle section," Miller explained. "I gave all what I had in me in that second run after being too conservative in the first one. But the course was in bad shape, and I made several errors."

Miller still has a strong shot for a top-3. "My downhill has been pretty solid this season. I improved a lot in the speed events after having only focused on slalom in the past."

The skier to beat is of course the five-time gold medal winner Kjetil Aamodt, who aims to set a new record of 14 medals in ten years. But this season, his downhill has not been so great— his best result so far was a 16th place at Kitzbühel.

In February 1991, Aamodt was 2nd in super G at Saalbach before becoming the Olympic Champion in 1992. In 1994 he conquered his first overall World Cup title. At the last World Championships at Vail in 1999, he was 3rd in downhill and 1st in combined. He went on to finish 2nd in the downhill standings that year.

With another clean run in the demanding downhill, Aamodt should remain out of reach for his rivals. "I was quite nervous today, especially before the second run when I heard that Lasse skied out. I didn't take any risks until the end."

Aamodt's friend and teammate Lasse Kjus was a solid 5th after the first run, but he lost his balance and skied out during in second run.

The men's combined downhill and women's downhill races are scheduled to take place Tuesday, February 6.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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