30 JAN 2001 > Men's Super G
Rahlves Defeats Austrian Armada
Super G Results
Rahlves Interview

America's Daron Rahlves may have achieved one of the most impressive and amazing performances in the history of the Alpine Ski World Championships by beating the most powerful team on its home turf.

In a spectacular race, the Californian celebrated his first major super G success by beating three former World Champions: veteran Stephan Eberharter, the 1991 World Championship super G winner, and Hermann Maier and Lasse Kjus, the two defending champions who tied in Vail in 1999.

It was the first US gold medal won in FIS World Championships since the success of Steve Mahre in GS at Schladming, Austria, in 1982. Other most recent American gold medals include the Olympic victories of Billy Johnson and Tommy Moe in 1984 and 1994 at Sarajevo and Lillehammer, respectively.

The huge crowd was amazed and suddenly quiet after the arrival of Rahlves, the 28-year-old champion from Truckee, who destroyed the Austrians' gold dreams after an aggressive run down the challenging "Karl Schranz" course, especially designed for the World Championships.

But the insiders, and even the Austrian athletes, were not really surprised when their US rival crossed the finish line with a new best time, only 8/100 of a second ahead of Eberharter and 23/100 in front of Maier, who has been unbeaten in a super G medal event since the Olympics in Nagano.

"I guess that the Austrians will ask me to pay the gas burned by the chopper..."

"A skier who reached the top-3 in Kitzbühel is able to win any kind of speed race," explained Eberharter who tried to face bravely his narrow defeat. "I was pleased to finish ahead of Hermann who has been so strong this winter, but I knew that the race was not over yet."

Silver medal winner Eberharter continued, "It's funny because at Kitzbühel where we were tied for 3rd place in the downhill, Daron and myself were joking on the podium. He told me that he would meet me again on the podium here. I didn't believe he would be so confident. But he deserves his win. After all, he also won twice at Lillehammer, a very demanding race. I'm pleased by this 2nd place because I didn't ski so well in super G in past weeks. My best event this winter is downhill, and this result boosts a lot my confidence."

This is also the case for Rahlves, who also feels strong in downhill, which is normally his best event.

"When I crossed the finish line this afternoon, I first thought it was a mistake when I saw the No. 1 on the timing board. I had to look twice at it to understand what was happening," Rahlves explained. "This is unreal, it means to much to beat the Austrian at home in this event. It's only their third defeat in three years, can you imagine?"

Once more, his girlfriend Michelle had a very positive influence on him before this newest triumph. Last year, she told him before his successes in Norway that it was about time for him to win some World Cup races after being on the team for five years, and he listened to her. The night before that super G, they had again a long conversation.

"This time, she told that she hoped to call me Mr. World Champion soon," he confessed with a smile. "Now she can!"

It's a great moment for Rahlves and for the US team. The timing is perfect just a year before the Olympics at Salt Lake City, Utah.

But two other champions (among others) are now particularly motivated for the upcoming downhill on Sunday. Lasse Kjus, who was close to the podium until the intermediate time where he ran out of fuel. He suffered from the flue last week, which cost him energy.

Maier, a four-time gold medal winner, knew where he lost the race and he tried to graciously accept the verdict of the competition. "Of course, I was the favorite, but the pressure was not stronger than usual. I always aim to win when I'm at the start of a race," he said.

The Herminator made a major mistake at the same right turn where he skied out last year, losing all his speed. "I knew right away that the race was lost, but I kept on fighting, and I have to be pleased with this bronze medal, my first one. I skied quite well on the end where I gained much time on the other skiers, but it was too late."

Maier joked, "Daron is a good skier, but I think it's quite of unfair that he beat us here after all the support the American team has received from us in the past years."

Since 1999, the US team sometimes trains with the Austrians in the summer - last year in Portillo, Chile. A week ago, some US skiers flew in by helicopter to St. Anton for some private training on the speed course.

"I guess that the Austrians will ask me to pay the gas burned by the chopper that day," said Bill Marolt, President of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA). "It's a great day for all of us, but the entire team has been doing well this season. We aim for more. Yesterday, Megan Gerety was close to winning too. We have some young guys who are quite determined."

The next event is the women's combined on Friday, followed Saturday by the men's downhill.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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